The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the federal government’s request to stay a lower court order that had blocked the mass termination of humanitarian parole for more than 500,000 noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The ruling, delivered without explanation from the majority, allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to immediately revoke the legal status and work authorizations of individuals admitted under the “CHNV” parole program.

The CHNV program was established to provide temporary legal status and, in many cases, work authorization to individuals fleeing instability and persecution in their home countries. Parole was granted through a competitive, individualized process, as permitted by federal law, and was valid for up to two years.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing the DHS Secretary to terminate all categorical parole programs, including CHNV. DHS subsequently issued a Federal Register notice ending the lawful status of all CHNV parolees in a single action.

A group of affected individuals challenged the mass termination in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, arguing that federal law requires parole decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis, not en masse. The district court agreed, temporarily blocking DHS’s action and allowing parolees to retain their status while the legal challenge proceeded.

The government appealed, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals declined to stay the district court’s order. The government then turned to the Supreme Court, which granted the stay, allowing DHS to proceed with the mass termination while the legal battle continues.

The Supreme Court’s order was brief and unsigned, granting the government’s request without analysis. The stay will remain in effect until the First Circuit rules on the appeal and, if the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, until it issues a final judgment.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, filed a forceful dissent. Jackson criticized the majority for failing to require the government to demonstrate irreparable harm, a key legal standard for granting a stay, and for undervaluing the “devastating consequences” for nearly half a million noncitizens whose lives and livelihoods are now in limbo. 

The dissent stated, “The Court has plainly botched this assessment today. It requires next to nothing from the Government with respect to irreparable harm. And it undervalues the devastating consequences of allowing the Government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending. Even if the Government is likely to win on the merits, in our legal system, success takes time and the stay standards require more than anticipated victory.”

With the Supreme Court’s intervention, the DHS’s termination order takes effect immediately. According to advocates, this marks the single largest mass loss of legal status in U.S. history, as more than 500,000 CHNV parole beneficiaries instantly lose their ability to live and work lawfully in the country.