The judge said the Department of Homeland Security failed to consider the reliance interests of current parolees.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Jan. 25 to block the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of foreign relatives of U.S. citizens and green card holders from seven nations.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) previously said it would terminate the Family Reunification Parole (FRP) program on Jan. 14 for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, citing security concerns over insufficient vetting of applicants from those nations.
The parole program allows U.S. citizens and green card holders to bring foreign relatives to the United States as a first step toward obtaining permanent residency.
The revocation move was blocked on Jan. 10 after U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order that paused the termination until Jan. 24, following legal action from a group of immigrants who entered the United States under the program.
In a 42-page ruling on Jan. 25, Talwani said DHS failed to consider the reliance interests of current FRP parolees, as many of them sold their homes and gave up their jobs to move to the United States after their applications were approved.
The judge found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that the agency’s decision to terminate the FRP program was “arbitrary and capricious,” noting that DHS failed to provide evidence to support its claims of insufficient vetting and fraud by current parolees.
“The Secretary [Kristi Noem] could not provide a reasoned explanation of the agency’s change in policy without acknowledging these interests,” the judge said. “Accordingly, failure to do so was arbitrary and capricious.”
Esther Sung, legal director of Justice Action Center, which represents the plaintiffs, welcomed the ruling in a statement.
“We are talking about people who have done everything the U.S. government has asked of them and who, in many cases, are mere weeks or months from finally receiving their green cards,” Sung said.
“These families should be able to live their lives and pursue their immigration cases peacefully and without fear that they will be ripped away from their loved ones.”
