The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with ending temporary legal protections for more than 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The decision raises the number of migrants newly at risk of deportation to nearly 1 million.The justices lifted a lower-court order that had blocked the administration’s effort to terminate the humanitarian parole program. In a separate case earlier this month, the court allowed the removal of about 350,000 Venezuelan migrants, marking the second time the court has sided with the Trump administration in its push to roll back Biden-era immigration policies.The court issued its order without explanation, which is typical on the emergency docket. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, warning of the serious consequences the decision could have on affected migrants.The administration filed an emergency appeal after a federal judge in Boston, Indira Talwani, had stopped the government from ending the program. Judge Talwani had ruled that revoking the protections early would force migrants to either flee the country or face possible deportation. While she allowed revocation on a case-by-case basis, the administration argued that the program was granted en masse and should be ended the same way.Solicitor general D John Sauer called individual review a “gargantuan task” that would slow the government’s ability to remove migrants.Justice Jackson echoed concerns from Judge Talwani, writing in her dissent that the court’s order would cause “needless human suffering” before a final legal judgment is reached. The temporary parole program had allowed up to 30,000 people per month from the four countries to enter the US for two years, provided they had a financial sponsor and paid their own travel expenses. These migrants fled instability and dangers in their home countries.The decision also affects other groups covered under humanitarian parole, including Afghans, Ukrainians, and Central American children. The Biden administration had used this authority, in effect since 1952, more extensively than any previous president.Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem cancelled an 18-month extension of the parole protections, giving migrants 30 days to leave unless covered by other legal protections. This marks the first time such a large group has lost parole status at once, with advocates calling it “the largest mass illegalisation event in modern American history.”The Supreme Court’s order is not a final decision, but it does mean that the protections will be lifted while the case moves forward. The case now goes back to the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
