SAN DIEGO, CMC – The San Diego, California-based immigrant advocacy group Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has welcomed a United States federal district court judge’s ruling in Boston, Massachusetts, ordering the Trump administration to restore processing of immigration benefit applications for Caribbean and other humanitarian parole recipients.
Judge Indira Talwani in Svitlana Doe v. Noem- a nationwide class to ensure that all impacted individuals meeting specific criteria are protected.
“This means that these humanitarian parole beneficiaries can once again pursue applications for more lasting and stable immigration status for which they are eligible by law, such as adjustment of status, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), asylum, and re-parole,” Guerline Jozef, HBA’s executive director, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Wednesday.
She said the court’s order also means that initial applications and re-parole applications filed by the relatives of US service members under Military Parole in Place must be adjudicated.
Jozef said the ruling covers beneficiaries of the following humanitarian parole processes: Uniting for Ukraine, Operation Allies Welcome, Central American Minors Parole, Family Reunification Parole, Military Parole-in-Place, and the process that’s available to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, known as “CHNV humanitarian parole.”
The court also certified various classes to ensure that all individuals in the United States participating in the various parole programs who do not have their litigation pending regarding the challenged agency policies can benefit from the relief ordered on Wednesday.
Jozef said hundreds of thousands of individuals are members of these certified classes and stand to benefit from Wednesday’s decision.
“Today’s news should serve as a reminder that when we fight together, we win,” she said. “Whether we come from Ukraine or Haiti, Afghanistan or Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, all those with humanitarian parole should have the freedom to live and work peacefully in their adopted communities and with their families.
“We ask that the government immediately restart the processing of applications for relief for our community members whose lives have been put on hold,” Jozef urged.
In concurring with the immigrant advocates who sued the Trump administration, Judge Talwani ruled that the administration’s actions violated federal administrative law.
“This court emphasizes, as it did in its prior order, that it is not in the public interest to manufacture a circumstance in which hundreds of thousands of individuals will, over several months, become unlawfully present in the country, such that these individuals cannot legally work in their communities or provide for themselves and their families,” she ruled.
J Talwani’s ruling primarily impacts 240,000 Ukrainians, who entered the US under the Uniting for Ukraine sponsorship Programmes during the Biden administration, established after Russia invaded their country in February 2022, as well as 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, also beneficiaries of Biden’s parole policy.
Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, said: “Our clients and class members are essential coworkers, life partners, and family members to others in the United States. They deserve to be treated like anyone else when it comes to pursuing other forms of status.
“We’re grateful that the judge restored fairness and accountability for these communities,” she added.
Last month, Judge Talwani ruled to halt the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the legal status and work permits of hundreds of thousands in the CHNV humanitarian parole process for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
The judge also certified a class of all individuals who have received a grant of parole that is subject to the Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, are still in the United States, and do not choose to opt out of the class to seek relief in separate litigation.
The Trump administration has sought a stay of this ruling with the US Supreme Court, “where the motion is fully briefed and pending,” Jozef said.
“This ruling reaffirms what we have always known to be true: our government has a legal obligation to respect the rights of all humanitarian parole beneficiaries and the Americans who have welcomed them into their communities,” said Anwen Hughes, director of legal strategy, Refugee Programs at Human Rights First. “We are pleased that the court has again rightly recognized the harm the government’s arbitrary decision-making has inflicted on innocent people, and we share the judge’s hope that the government will adhere to this order and immediately resume adjudicating our clients’ applications for relief.”
Jozef said the plaintiffs are also challenging the administration’s order to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to halt all pending applications for these processes and any other alternatives that may offer potential relief.
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