DHS Secretary Noem terminated CHNV parole programs, stripping lawful status from 532,000 noncitizens without individualized review

On March 25, 2025, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem published Federal Register Notice 2025-05128 (90 FR 13611) formally terminating the categorical parole programs for inadmissible noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — collectively known as the CHNV programs. The termination was effective immediately; parolees whose status had not already expired were given until April 24, 2025 to depart the United States or face enforcement. Approximately 532,000 people lost their lawful parole status and associated work authorization through a single blanket administrative notice.

The CHNV programs had operated under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5), which authorizes the Secretary to parole noncitizens into the United States temporarily "for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit." The Biden administration established the programs in 2022 and 2023, admitting up to 30,000 noncitizens per month from four countries where U.S. deportation operations are difficult or legally constrained. Each parolee was individually vetted, required a U.S.-based financial sponsor, and passed background checks before being admitted — a process the statute contemplates as the basis for individual grants of status. Secretary Noem's Federal Register notice terminated all grants simultaneously, without individualized review of reliance interests, changed circumstances, or the basis on which each person had originally been admitted.

DHS justified termination on grounds that the programs were unnecessary for border security, inconsistent with the administration's foreign policy goals, and that reliance interests of current parolees were outweighed by broad policy considerations. District Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction in April 2025 blocking the mass termination, finding that parolees held a due-process interest in individualized review before their status could be revoked. The First Circuit declined to intervene, and the administration sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court, which issued a 7-2 stay on May 30, 2025 — clearing DHS to proceed with mass terminations pending resolution of the merits. That Supreme Court order is recorded as a separate entry.