Trump Gets First Circuit Win on Migrant Parole Terminations (2)

The Department of Homeland Security’s termination of temporary protections for half a million migrant parolees survived a federal appellate court test, bolstering the legal basis for Trump administration efforts to target humanitarian parole programs.

Plaintiffs challenging the revocation of parole for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela hadn’t made a strong showing the move was arbitrary and capricious, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held Friday in reversing a lower court.

The US Supreme Court has allowed the government to move ahead with revoking CHNV parole grants, approving an emergency request by DHS to ignore a district court order blocking removal of those immigrants while litigation unfolds.

Thousands of requests for green cards or other temporary relief are still pending at DHS.

The agency has moved to dismantle a broad swathe of temporary humanitarian programs, discontinuing refugee resettlement, restricting asylum, and suspending entry through several parole pathways besides the CHNV process. It’s also sought to eliminate humanitarian relief for hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the US as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, including many Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans shielded by Temporary Protected Status.

Although it’s fighting multiple court challenges over TPS terminations, the parole litigation is one of the first cases involving temporary immigrant protections to advance to the appellate level.

A Boston district court judge found in an April order granting preliminary relief to plaintiffs that the terminations were likely unlawful because Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a blanket termination of protections. But the Immigration and Nationality Act “favors an interpretation that the ‘case-by-case’ requirement only limits the Secretary’s discretion to grant parole,” and doesn’t limit terminations, Appeals Court Judge Gustavo Gelpí Jr., a Biden appointee, wrote in the opinion.

The case was also heard by William Kayatta Jr., an Obama appointee, and Lara E. Montecalvo, a Biden appointee. The panel focused on whether the termination decision was shielded from judicial review during July oral arguments. Because the appeals court decided in the government’s favor, it didn’t address questions about reviewability in Friday’s opinion.

The decision vacated the district court stay on parole terminations and remanded the case for further proceedings. Plaintiffs have filed for summary judgment in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Presidents from both political parties have used parole authority to temporarily admit immigrants on humanitarian or public interest grounds, allowing them to apply for asylum or another form of legal status within the US. The dismantling of a swathe of parole programs by is part of a larger agenda at DHS to curtail temporary humanitarian relief for immigrant groups.

“Today’s news hurts everyone, not just our clients and class members,” said Esther Sung, legal director of Justice Action Center and counsel for plaintiffs. “People who came here from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela did everything the government asked of them, and the Trump administration cruelly and nonsensically failed to hold up the government’s end of the bargain.”

DHS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Plaintiffs are also represented by Justice Action Center, Human Rights First, and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. DHS is represented by the Department of Justice.

The case is Doe v. Noem, 1st Cir., No. 25-01384, opinion issued 9/12/25.