Thousands migrants retain legal status as court rejects Trump’s appeal

The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston on Monday denied a request from the Trump administration to lift an order blocking the revocation of temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants, Reuters reported.

The group includes citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who received a two-year parole under President Joe Biden’s administration.

The court’s refusal means the Department of Homeland Security cannot proceed with plans to terminate the migrants’ legal protections.

The decision maintains a significant safeguard for around 400,000 individuals living in the US while broader immigration policies remain under political and legal scrutiny.

The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The administration's action marked an expansion of the Republican president's hardline crackdown on immigration and push to ramp up deportations, including of noncitizens previously granted a legal right to live and work in the United States.

The ruling came in a lawsuit by immigrant rights advocates challenging an agency decision to pause various Biden-era parole programs that have allowed Ukrainian, Afghan, Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants to enter the country.

While the case was pending, the Homeland Security Department on March 25 announced in a Federal Register notice that it had decided to terminate the two-year parole granted to about 400,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelan migrants.

US District Judge Indira Talwani, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, on April 25 halted the agency's action, which she said revoked previously granted parole and work authorisations for migrants on a categorical basis and without a necessary case-by-case review.