Federal Judge’s Order Blocks Termination of Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV)

We are pleased to report that on April 14, 2025, a Massachusetts federal judge issued a temporary nationwide injunction, suspending the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) termination of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) parole programs. The termination was set to take effect on April 24, 2025, and would have ended parole authorization and any associated benefits, including work authorization for individuals in the United States under the CHNV parole programs. The judge’s decision suspends the Trump administration’s cancellation of these programs.

What You Need to Know

A federal district court judge has issued a temporary nationwide injunction immediately blocking the Department of Homeland Security from terminating the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) parole programs, which were expected to terminate on April 24, 2025.
As a result, individuals under the CHNV parole program can remain in the United States and maintain their work authorizations until their current parole periods expire.
No new requests for CHNV parole will be processed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
The court’s order provides temporary relief while further litigation is pending, but individuals must seek alternative legal avenues to remain in the United States beyond their parole periods.

What is CHNV Parole?

In 2022, President Biden introduced a temporary parole program for Venezuelan nationals, granting them a two-year temporary period of stay in the United States based on humanitarian reasons, and the ability to apply for employment authorization.

The following year, this program was expanded to include nationals from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua. To qualify for CHNV parole, applicants were required to have a U.S. based financial sponsor, pass background checks, and receive advance authorization to travel to the United States to request admission from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The parole programs were temporary in nature and required beneficiaries to seek alternative pathways to remain in the United States prior to the end of the two-year parole period such as asylum, or Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

On March 25, 2025, the Trump administration later sought to terminate the CHNV parole programs by publishing a notice in the Federal Register suspending the programs with a termination date of April 24, 2025 (30 days after the date of publication of the notice).

Shortly thereafter, a lawsuit was filed in federal court challenging the legality of the Trump administration’s decision to end the CHNV parole programs. The plaintiffs sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) to immediately stop the government from terminating the programs pending further litigation.

In response to the lawsuit, on April 14^th U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, issued a nationwide injunction temporarily suspending the government’s planned termination of the CHNV parole programs.

What’s Next

While the litigation is pending in federal court, the court orders:

Individuals paroled into the United States pursuant to the CHNV parole programs may remain in the United States through their originally stated parole end date.
Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) issued to individuals admitted under the CHNV parole programs will remain valid through the expiration date listed on the EAD.
CHNV parolees seeking to remain in the United States past the expiration of their parole periods must seek alternative legal avenues to remain in the United States.

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