Judge upholds parole program for Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, turns back challenge
A Biden administration humanitarian parole program that has let hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians come to the U.S. can continue, after a federal judge on Friday turned back a legal challenge from several Republican-led states, including Florida and
Texas.
“The Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to establish that they have standing on any of their claims,” said the final judgment by Judge Drew B. Tipton, who issued the decision from a courthouse in the Texan city of Victoria.
The Biden administration launched the parole process for Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua in January 2023, after first launching the program in October 2022 for Venezuela. It allows people from the four countries to come to the U.S. for two years, as long as they have financial sponsors and pass background and health checks.
But the fate of the program had been uncertain since Texas, Florida, and over a dozen other states sued the administration less than a month after it was announced. They argued that the program was illegal because it was an overstep of federal government authority and burdened the states with millions of dollars in costs.
On Friday, Tipton — who was appointed to the federal bench by President Donald Trump and has previously ruled against the Biden administration on immigration matters— dismissed the case and denied any relief to the states in a 27-page opinion.
The ruling is a huge win for Biden’s White House, which has used executive authority to grant humanitarian parole to several countries, including to Ukrainians after Russia invaded their country. Tipton’s decision is also a relief for parole program recipients and their sponsors, many of whom are family members.
Following Friday’s development, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that the parole program was “a key element of our efforts to address the unprecedented level of migration throughout our hemisphere, and other countries around the world see it as a model to tackle the challenge of increased irregular migration that they too are experiencing.”
Since the end of January, over 357,000 people from the four countries have arrived in the United States. That includes over 138,000 Haitians, 58,000 Nicaraguans, over 74,000 Cubans, and more than 86,000 Venezuelans, according to federal government data. DHS launched the program as part of its package of policies to reduce irregular immigration and increase legal pathways for people from the four countries.
“It’s an incredible victory to ensure that the parole programs that have reunited so many families and provided protection for so many can continue,” said Karen Tumlin, founder and director of the Justice Action Center, which represented seven U.S. citizen sponsors of parole program beneficiaries in the lawsuit.
“This is a great day for them because they wanted to have the freedom to welcome, the freedom to exercise their own religion, to reunite families. I hope that the hundreds of thousands of other people who are waiting in line for this program find confidence in this decision,” she told the Miami Herald.
Valerie Laveus, a middle school teacher in Broward County, brought her brother and 15-year-old nephew from Port-auPrince through the parole program in August. She is among the sponsors Tumlin’s group represented.
Her family had been living in uncertainty since the case went to trial in August. The fear that the program could go away had only deepened as the crisis in Haiti worsened in recent days. On Friday, Laveus said she was overjoyed.
“I want to thank God for this. It was definitely scary, to think that the program was going to be completely obliterated. Not just for my brother, but for everybody that has been given the opportunity to come here,” she said. “We don’t have to live in fear that they are going to be sent away…They can do what they came to do, which is live with peace and learn as much as they can and live with freedom.”
Back in Haiti, Laveus’ relatives couldn’t work or go to school because of the continuing gang violence. Her brother had long been approved for a green card, but it was a years-long wait for a visa to become available. It was becoming harder for U.S.-based family members keep sending money while hoping it would last them long enough to eat and survive.
Then the parole program offered another way out.
“When my brother came he was half of a man. Now he’s joyful, and looking forward to life. My family came with a lot of adversity .... That adversity has shifted. This is a new life, a new experience,” she said.
Her brother found a job in construction since moving to Florida. Her nephew is attending a magnet school.
“He’s learning, he rides his bike, and plays with friends. He doesn’t have to look behind his back,” she said.
Tipton issued a final order, which means that if Texas and the other states want to challenge his ruling, they will have to go to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans.
“In reaching this conclusion, the Court does not address the lawfulness of the Program. The Court may only reach that question after a plaintiff has established that it has standing,” wrote Tipton in Friday’s ruling.
It’s unclear what will happen to parole recipients for the Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua program once the two years are up. But Laveus hopes that the parole program will lead to more permanent immigration solutions for families like her.
“What I’m praying for is a pathway that can offer other opportunities for people who are here, to not only prove themselves but to contribute, because they are contributing,” she said.”It’s an amazing thing that’s happened.”