In a major victory for President Donald Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, May 24, allowed his administration to end humanitarian parole for over 500,000 migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua, overturning lower court rulings that had blocked the move.
The ruling puts on hold an April decision by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani that barred the mass revocation of parole — a form of temporary legal status granted under President Joe Biden’s immigration policy.
That decision had been upheld by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Supreme Court, acting in an emergency capacity, reversed it without a signed opinion or explanation.
Liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, with Jackson warning of “devastating consequences” for the hundreds of thousands now facing expedited deportation.
“The Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to unleash widespread chaos,” said Karen Tumlin, director of the Justice Action Center.
Trump, who returned to office in January 2025, signed an executive order on day one terminating Biden-era parole programs.
These programs allowed migrants fleeing humanitarian crises to live and work in the U.S. if they passed background checks and had U.S. sponsors.
Biden had extended parole to Venezuelans in 2022, and later to Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans in 2023.
The Trump administration argued that ending the parole program would deter illegal immigration and streamline deportations under expedited removal procedures.
The Justice Department said the lower court’s ruling undermined policies that were “democratically approved” in the 2024 election that returned Trump to the White House.
Plaintiffs, including migrants and their U.S. sponsors, argued the government was violating immigration law by ending parole without individual case reviews — a legal requirement under federal law.
Human rights groups condemned the decision. Guerline Jozef, director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said the move “blatantly proves [Trump’s] disregard for the lives of those truly in need of protection.”
The ruling also follows a separate May 19 decision where the Court permitted the administration to end temporary protected status (TPS) for 350,000 Venezuelans, further escalating deportation risks for vulnerable populations.
Meanwhile, Judge Talwani has separately ordered the administration to resume processing immigration and work permit applications for parolees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Latin America — signaling continued legal wrangling in the weeks ahead.
