Supreme Court Allows Trump to End Biden’s Migrant Program: Key Details
The Supreme Court’s decision allows the Trump Administration, for the time being, to end a Biden-era initiative that offered humanitarian parole to migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, potentially putting hundreds of thousands at risk of deportation.
The CHNV program allowed people from those four nations to enter the U.S. legally, where they could reside and work for a maximum of two years. Since late 2022, at least 530,000 migrants have utilized it.
This ruling, one of several recent Supreme Court decisions favoring the Trump Administration’s strict immigration policies, empowers Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to discontinue the parole program while legal challenges against its termination are ongoing.
Following the ruling, a Trump Administration stated that the Biden Administration had “allowed more than half a million poorly vetted aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and their immediate family members to enter the United States through these disastrous parole programs; granted them opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers.” He added that “Ending the CHNV parole programs, as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First.”
Several immigrant advocacy groups have warned that the decision will have “devastating consequences” for immigrant communities.
Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an organization advocating for immigration and criminal justice reform, called the decision “deeply tragic,” arguing that it punishes half a million people for following immigration laws. In a statement emailed to TIME, he predicted “devastating and immediate consequences,” claiming that the government failed to demonstrate harm comparable to that which will result from half a million people losing their jobs and facing deportation.
Here’s a breakdown of the program and the Supreme Court’s decision.
What is the CHNV program?
Implemented by the Biden Administration, the program authorized migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the U.S. legally and to stay and work legally for a two-year parole period. During this time, they could also seek humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits if eligible.
David Beir, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, explains that the program was initially adopted in 2022 to address high levels of illegal immigration, especially from Venezuela. It followed a similar program created earlier in 2022 for Ukrainian immigrants seeking asylum after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Venezuelan program required migrants to have a U.S.-based sponsor willing to provide financial support and an airline ticket for direct, legal travel to the U.S.
According to Beir, the Biden Administration hoped the program would reduce pressure at the southern border by managing arrivals through air travel. The protections were later extended to people from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
What did the Supreme Court rule?
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday overturned a Massachusetts court that had temporarily prevented the federal government from implementing Secretary Noem’s March 25 order, which sought to revoke the legal status granted to migrants under the CHNV program.
That order aligned with President Donald Trump’s January 20 Executive Order, which directed Noem to “terminate all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in my Executive Orders.”
The Supreme Court ruling permits the Trump Administration to end the program while the legal proceedings continue.
The decision was not signed and lacked an explanation. Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, issued a , stating that the court “has plainly botched this assessment today.”
What will the impact of the ruling be?
Immigrant rights groups have praised the program as a “humanitarian relief” effort assisting those fleeing unstable conditions in their home countries.
According to Schulte of FWD.us, “Even within an immigration system that is decades overdue for a Congressional overhaul, the CHNV parole processes stood out as an innovative model for creating legal and orderly pathways.” He added that “Granting parole to people fleeing harm dramatically reduced unauthorized migration to the southern border, and it allowed people to work and contribute, bringing greater stability to families, employers, and communities across the country.”
Beir from the Cato Institute, suggests that ending the program could quickly strip migrants of their legal status.
Beir told TIME that “The administration’s already empowered its agents to arrest people who are on parole, to arrest people who are applicants for asylum.” He explained that many people were granted parole for two years, and if they haven’t applied for asylum, they risk accumulating unlawful presence in the country as soon as the decision takes effect.
Beir says it’s uncertain how many migrants will be affected and potentially deported as a result of this ruling.
Beir stated that around half a million people entered through the program, many of whom are from Haiti and Venezuela and have temporary protected status, which the administration may eventually revoke. He also noted that asylum applications could provide another avenue for some to continue working legally and remain in the country.
Beir emphasizes that it’s crucial to remember that the migrants who participated in the program followed legal pathways to enter the U.S., pathways created based on promises made by the U.S. government when the program began:
“They pay for their own flights. They travel on airlines like any other visitors to the United States and the other you know, part of this is really completely unprecedented for an administration to en masse terminate the status of people who’ve come to the United States legally like this.”
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