Deportations of nearly 500,000 allowed to proceed

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

Deportation of nearly 500,000 people illegally in the country was cleared by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, handing a victory to the Trump administration.

The decision puts a hold on a lower court’s decision to allow people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to remain in the U.S. for two years through a Biden era decision. The case will continue to play out in lower courts.

Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump instructing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “terminate all categorical parole programs,” which included the CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela parole program).

In the ruling from the Supreme Court, the court said that “parole is discretionary by statute.”

“DHS awards the parole status through a competitive and detailed application process that involves a rigorous, individualized assessment of the applicant’s circumstances,” the justices said.

In the complaint filed in the Boston court detailed in the Supreme Court’s ruling, Talwani said Noem “acted arbitrarily and capriciously, contrary to law, and in excess of her legal authority by prematurely terminating their parole.”

The court did not sign the order; however, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the ruling.