A federal judge in Boston said she will temporarily block the Trump administration from ending the legal status of thousands of Latin American migrants who entered the United States through family reunification programs. The ruling, expected early next week, would halt an effort that critics say would force families apart without proper notice or legal process.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said on Friday that she plans to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the Department of Homeland Security from terminating parole protections for an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 migrants. The affected individuals come from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and entered the country legally to reunite with close family members.
During a court hearing, Talwani sharply questioned whether the government complied with legal requirements before announcing the program’s termination. She said the department failed to show it had provided migrants with the notice required by law before stripping them of lawful status. Addressing Justice Department lawyers, the judge stressed that migrants who followed U.S. rules deserved the same level of legal compliance from the government.
Court challenges Homeland Security’s termination of parole programs
The challenged decision dates back to December, when Homeland Security announced it would end all family reunification parole programs created or expanded under the Biden administration in 2022 and 2023. The termination, scheduled to take effect on January 14, would have required affected migrants to leave the United States or face deportation within days.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that nearly a third of those impacted are children. They warned that the sudden policy shift would disrupt schooling, employment, and family stability. Justin Cox, representing immigrant rights groups, called the move unlawful and said it placed families in immediate danger of separation.
The Trump administration defended the policy as part of its broader immigration agenda. Justice Department attorney Katie Rose Talley told the court that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem holds broad authority to end parole grants. She argued that nothing in federal law prevents the agency from withdrawing temporary protections.
Homeland Security has said the programs were abused and allowed migrants to bypass traditional immigration channels. Officials framed the rollback as a return to an “America First” approach, arguing that ending parole would restore stricter enforcement standards.
The case builds on earlier litigation involving humanitarian parole. Talwani previously blocked the administration from ending parole for hundreds of thousands of migrants from other countries, including Venezuela and Nicaragua. Although the Supreme Court later lifted that order, an appeals court subsequently reversed part of that decision, leaving the legal framework unsettled.
If issued, the restraining order would preserve the migrants’ legal status while the lawsuit proceeds. The case highlights ongoing tensions between executive immigration authority and judicial oversight, especially when policy changes affect individuals who entered the country through government-approved programs.
