Subsequent Trump and Court Action(s)

• January 20, 2025

  2025.01.20 DHS: Exercising Appropriate Discretion Under Parole Authority

  Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine C. Huffman issues an internal memorandum to ICE, CBP, and USCIS titled "Exercising Appropriate Discretion Under Parole Authority." The memo orders the agency heads to review their parole policies to determine "which are not strictly in accord with the text and structure of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)," and formulate a plan to phase out these policies. The memo also states that pending this review, DHS may "pause, modify, or terminate any [such] parole program" under certain constraints.

  This memo was disclosed in the course of litigation in Svitlana Doe v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-10495 (D. Mass.) (see below).

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• January 23, 2025

  2025.01.23 USCIS: Email from Acting Director Jennifer B. Higgins to USCIS Leadership

  Acting USCIS Director Jennifer B. Higgins sends an email to USCIS leadership in response to the Executive Order "Securing Our Borders" and Acting Secretary Huffman's Jan. 20, 2025 memorandum described above. Higgins asks USCIS leadership to "ensure effective immediately that [USCIS] staff do not make any final decisions (approval, denial, closure) or issue a travel document or I-94 for any initial parole or re-parole application, petition, motion, or other request" for various enumerated categorical parole programs. The instruction does not include advance parole, I-131 Humanitarian Parole, or "government referrals for parole filed and adjudicated on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit."

  This email was disclosed in the course of litigation in Svitlana Doe v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-10495 (D. Mass.) (see below).

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• January 24, 2025

  2025.01.24 - Reported - NYT: Trump Officials Pause Programs to Let In Immigrants, Including Ukrainians

  Reported: USCIS has reportedly paused multiple parole programs that facilitated the temporary arrival of migrants into the United States. Stop all "final decisions" on applications for these programs affect immigrants from countries including Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, while the administration reviews the programs and decides whether to terminate them. The affected policies include Uniting for Ukraine; Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) Parole Processes; Family Reunification Parole Programs; and Central American Minors (CAM) Parole.

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• January 28, 2025

  2025.01.28 USCIS Update on Form I-134A

  USCIS announced it is "pausing acceptance of Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support, until [it] can review all categorical parole processes" as required by § 7(b) of EO,"Securing Our Borders."

  During the Biden administration, financial sponsors of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Ukrainians, and Venezuelans applying to enter the U.S. under the CHNV and Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) parole processes completed Form I-134A to demonstrate their ability to financially provide for parolees.

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• February 14, 2025

  2025.02.14 USCIS: Administrative Hold on All USCIS Benefit Requests filed by Parolees under U4U, CHNV, or FRP

  Acting USCIS Deputy Director Andrew Davidson issued an internal memorandum to USCIS leadership titled "Administrative Hold on All USCIS Benefit Requests filed by Parolees Under the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) Process, Processes for Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) Process, or Family Reunification Parole (FRP) Process." The memo orders an immediate USCIS-wide administrative hold on all pending benefit requests filed by parolees under the U4U, CHNV, or FRP processes, citing concerns about fraud, public safety, and national security. It also states the hold may be lifted by a subsequent memo after, "comprehensive review and evaluation of the in-country population of aliens who are or were paroled into the United States under these categorical parole programs."

  This memo was disclosed in the course of litigation in Svitlana Doe v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-10495 (D. Mass.) (see below).

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• February 28, 2025

  2025.02.28 Complaint - Svitlana Doe v. Noem

  Justice Action Center and Human Rights First filed suit on behalf of U.S. sponsors, beneficiaries, and an organization to challenge the Trump administration’s attempt to end various humanitarian parole programs, including CHNV, Operation Allies Welcome, and Uniting for Ukraine. The lawsuit also challenges USCIS's decision to pause processing of pending applications related to parole as well as any benefits requests by parolees, such as asylum and TPS. Svitlana Doe v. Noem, No. 1:25-cv-10495 (D. Mass.).

  *Litigation entries are limited to initial complaints and major substantive rulings. For pleadings and additional information, use name and docket number to search Civil Rights Clearinghouse and CourtListener or visit Just Security Litigation Tracker*

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• March 6, 2025

  2025.03.06 Reported: Trump weighs revoking legal status of Ukrainians as US steps up deportations - Reuters

  Reuters reports that Trump is considering revoking the humanitarian parole status granted to Ukrainians under the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program. "The planned rollback of protections for Ukrainians would be part of a broader Trump administration effort to strip legal status from more than 1.8 million migrants allowed to enter the U.S. under temporary humanitarian parole programs launched under the Biden administration." The revocation for Ukrainian parole status could come as soon as April and would leave people vulnerable to expedited removal.

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