Supreme Court 7-2 stayed injunction blocking CHNV parole termination, enabling DHS to revoke status for 532,000 noncitizens
On May 30, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's emergency application to stay a federal injunction, allowing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to proceed with terminating humanitarian parole for more than 532,000 noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela admitted under the Biden-era CHNV programs. The unsigned 7-2 order — with Justices Jackson and Sotomayor dissenting — cleared the way to revoke parole status without the individualized case-by-case review that the district court's injunction had required. Justice Jackson wrote that the majority had "plainly botched" the ruling and decried the "devastating consequences" of upending the lives of nearly half a million people while their legal claims remained pending.
Actors
On May 30, 2025, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned emergency order granting the Trump administration's application to stay a federal district court injunction, clearing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to proceed with terminating humanitarian parole for more than 532,000 noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The 7-2 stay — with only Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting — overrode a Massachusetts district court ruling that had required individualized case-by-case review before parole could be revoked. DHS moved immediately to begin mass termination of CHNV parole status, issuing termination notices within two weeks of the ruling.
The Biden-era CHNV programs had operated under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5), admitting up to 30,000 noncitizens per month from four countries — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — where U.S. deportation operations are difficult or legally constrained. All participants had passed individual background checks and secured U.S.-based sponsors before admission. DHS Secretary Noem announced the termination of all four programs on March 25, 2025; District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the termination in April, finding parolees had a due-process interest in individualized review before revocation. After the First Circuit declined to intervene, the administration brought an emergency application directly to the Supreme Court.
Justice Jackson's dissent was pointed: the majority had "plainly botched" the ruling, she wrote, and the order would produce "devastating consequences" by "allowing the Government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending." She emphasized the asymmetry of harm — the government faced no concrete injury from waiting, while parolees faced immediate loss of lawful status, employment authorization, and risk of deportation to countries where repatriation had previously been judged impractical. The DHS statement called the stay "a major SCOTUS victory."
Why we recorded this
The Supreme Court's emergency stay allowed the executive to terminate humanitarian parole for 532,000 people — lawfully admitted, individually vetted — while litigation resolved. Parole under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5) carries procedural protections requiring individualized review before revocation. The majority's decision to bypass that floor on an emergency basis, stripping status from half a million noncitizens before courts could rule on the merits, weakened the procedural protection that makes humanitarian admission meaningful.
Sources
- Supreme Court allows DHS to end parole for a half-million noncitizens — SCOTUSblog primary accessed June 25, 2026
- DHS Releases Statement on Major SCOTUS Victory — Trump Administration and the American People on Ending the CHNV Parole Program — U.S. Department of Homeland Security primary accessed June 25, 2026
- DHS revokes protections for 532,000 in CHNV parole program — Economic Policy Institute secondary accessed June 25, 2026
See also
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- ICE detains Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil over pro-Palestinian activism; no criminal charges filed
- Trump signed EO 14321 directing DOJ to dismantle ADA Olmstead protections and expand forced civil commitment of homeless people with disabilities
- USCIS indefinitely halted all Afghan immigration requests—asylum, green cards, SIVs—hours after D.C. shooting
- State Department cable halted all Afghan visa processing worldwide, including SIVs for wartime allies