Supreme Court allows Donald Trump admin to end humanitarian parole for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans

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The Supreme Court has signed off on the Donald Trump administration revoking temporary legal protections from some 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The latest ruling pushes the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a ruling in April saying Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem could not end humanitarian parole protections for migrants from those four countries who were covered by the CHNV Parole Program.

But Justices on Friday in a 7-2 decision overturned that ruling.

The Homeland Security Department stayed parole termination notices to those protected by the program when the lower court issued its ruling and has yet to announce its response to the new ruling.

The decision could have an outsized influence in the state of Florida. Migration experts say a significant portion of foreign nationals from those four countries reside in the Sunshine State.

About 64% of Cubans in the U.S. live in Florida, as do 37% of Nicaraguans, according to the Pew Research Center.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, 49% of Haitians and 49% of Venezuelans in America call Florida home.

That has prompted members of the Florida congressional delegation from both sides of the aisle to urge the administration not to deport individuals back to socialist and violence-plagued nations of origin.

“Citizens from those countries are fleeing brutal dictators or, in the case of Haiti, a total collapse of governance and security,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat and the daughter of Haitian immigrants.

“The CHNV program and the President’s use of parole authority at ports of entry are common-sense efforts to make inevitable protection-seeking migration more orderly and humane. It would be counterproductive and dangerous to eliminate or severely restrict the President’s parole authority through the CHNV program or at ports of entry and we strongly oppose any overbearing legislative limitations on these executive immigration authorities.”

Democrats from Florida decried the Supreme Court decision.

“Cubans will now face Pres Trump’s mass deportation due to this ruling. Another sad day for Florida’s families and economy,” said U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, a Kissimmee Democrat. “Parole was also protecting Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans. These folks were vetted, arrived legally and were mostly working.”

But Republicans in South Florida suggested they can still convince alternatives to deportation for many migrants.

U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, a Coral Gables Republican, previously sent a letter to Trump urging him to defer enforcement of the program. “We cannot turn our backs on them while we fight to regain control of the border,” she posted in Spanish.

But she also had voiced frustration that the parole system had previously been used to grant entry to the U.S. for some communist leaders with a history of oppressing the Cuban people.

U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, a Hialeah Republican, said conversations with the administration remain ongoing.

“As has been stated repeatedly, Rep. Carlos Giménez, Rep. María Salazar and I are working with the Trump Administration to make the case and find a permanent solution for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who have fled political crises and cannot return to their countries of origin because of legitimate claims of persecution,” he posted after the court decision.

“We are proud to represent some of the largest constituencies of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, and we will continue to advocate for them. Many innocent people are unfortunately dealing with the repercussions of (former President Joe) Biden intentionally opening the border to millions, including the countless bad actors who exploited his open-border policies. We support President Trump in enforcing the rule of law at the southern border, which was nonexistent for the past four years.”

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Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. Republished with permission.