The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has welcomed a United States federal judge’s temporary halt to the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the legal status and work permits of half a million people who came to the US through a lawful pathway known as the CHNV humanitarian parole process for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Judge Indira Talwani, of US District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, also certified a class of all individuals who have received a grant of parole that is subject to the Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, are still in the United States, and do not choose to opt out of the class in order to seek relief in separate litigation.
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“Hundreds of thousands of our neighbors will go to sleep tonight knowing that the Trump administration’s attempts to de-legitimize and criminalize our communities have been thwarted, for now,” said Guerline Jozef, HBA’s executive director and founder.
She told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) “this win is a testament to the power and dedication of our communities.
“We are proud to stand alongside the people we serve, our partners and allies, and immigrant communities as we fight to ensure that this country that we love so much is on the right side of history, upholds the pillars of freedom, opportunity and rule of law,” she added.
Judge Talwani ruled on Monday that the “early termination, without any case-by-case justification, of legal status for non-citizens who have complied with DHS (Department of Homeland Security) programs and entered the country lawfully undermines the rule of law”.
Karen Tumlin, founder and director of the Los Angeles, California-based Justice Action Centre, said the Justice Action Centre and Human Rights First filed the case on behalf of humanitarian parole beneficiaries and their US sponsors from across the country, along with organizational plaintiff HBA filed last month to challenge Trump’s unprecedented decision to end “crucial humanitarian parole processes”.
The plaintiffs are also challenging Trump’s order to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to halt all pending applications for these processes and any other alternatives that may offer potential relief. The plaintiffs are represented by Justice Action Centre and Human Rights First.
Late last month, President Trump revoked the CHNV humanitarian parole programs for individuals from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. (CMC)
