US: Court Halts Trump’s Parolee Deportation Plan

By Staff, Agencies

A federal judge in Washington, DC, has issued a temporary injunction halting Donald Trump administration’s latest efforts to broaden the scope of expedited deportations.

This move could impact hundreds of thousands of immigrants who legally entered the US under humanitarian parole.

In an 84-page decision issued Friday, US District Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] had acted beyond the limits of its legal authority by applying fast-track removal procedures to individuals who had complied with entry regulations through parole.

“The case presents a question of fair play,” Judge Cobb wrote. "In a world of bad options, they played by the rules. Now, the Government has not only closed off those pathways for new arrivals but changed the game for parolees already here, restricting their ability to seek immigration relief and subjecting them to summary removal despite statutory law prohibiting the Executive Branch from doing so."

Expedited removal procedures allow federal immigration agents to deport individuals without a hearing before a judge. Parole, by contrast, grants certain applicants a temporary entry into the country without being detained, typically on humanitarian grounds.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by immigrant advocacy organizations against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The plaintiffs challenged three DHS actions they say unlawfully expanded the use of expedited removal, especially amid a rise in immigration-related arrests.

The court’s decision freezes those DHS actions for now, protecting all non-citizens who entered the country via parole at official entry points.

Judge Cobb noted that the core issue is whether those fleeing persecution will be allowed to present their cases under a structured legal system.

"Or, alternatively, will they be summarily removed from a country that, as they are swept up at checkpoints and outside courtrooms, often by plainclothes officers without explanation or charges, may look to them more and more like the countries from which they tried to escape?" she wrote.

Esther Sung, legal director of the Justice Action Center and one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, called the ruling "a huge win" for immigrant communities.

"Hopefully this decision will alleviate that fear," Sung said, referring to the widespread anxiety among parolees who avoid routine immigration check-ins out of concern they might be detained.