The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted a request from the Trump administration to temporarily lift a lower court ruling that had blocked the revocation of legal protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
The move impacts approximately 532,000 individuals who entered the United States under a two-year “parole” program initiated by President Joe Biden. The program permitted up to 30,000 migrants per month from these four countries to seek refuge in the U.S., citing dire human rights situations in their home nations.
However, with Donald Trump returning to a hardline stance on immigration, his administration sought to dismantle the program, arguing it was unlawfully implemented. Legal challenges ensued, culminating in the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the policy change while litigation continues.
The court’s order was unsigned and provided no detailed explanation. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented strongly, cautioning that the ruling could severely disrupt the lives of the affected migrants.
“The Court has plainly botched this assessment today,” the dissenting justices wrote, warning of “devastating consequences” such as family separation, deportation to dangerous conditions, and the potential loss of legal remedies for those seeking asylum or protection.
Migrants under the parole program now face a grim choice: either leave the United States and risk persecution or remain and face possible arrest and deportation.
Lower courts that initially blocked the Trump administration’s actions had argued that officials misapplied immigration laws. Despite that, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has allowed the administration’s efforts to move forward, pending a final legal resolution.
Trump, who is mounting a return to the White House, has made immigration enforcement a central theme. Among his controversial policies, he used a rarely-invoked wartime law to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, a measure heavily criticized by human rights advocates.
