In a major legal setback for the Trump administration, a Boston-area federal judge foiled its attempt to rescind the legal status and work permits of more than half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who entered the United States legally under a Biden-era immigration program. In a decision on April 14, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani blocked the administration’s aggressive attempt to terminate the immigration status of the group by April 24, prompting it to self-deport or risk arrest and deportation by the federal government. In addition to preserving the legal status of the 532,000, the decision keeps the bigger immigration fight in the United States active, illustrating the collision of the power of the president, judicial checks, and humanitarian needs.
Background of the CHNV Program
The immigrants here entered the U.S. under the Biden program called CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela), which was meant to increase legal immigration pathways and discourage irregular border crossing. Launched in response to the historic immigration flows of these four countries, the CHNV program allowed approved applicants to apply to come to the U.S. having being sponsored by U.S.-based people, typically members of the family or sponsors in their respective areas of residence. Once in the U.S., members of the program were given immigration parole—temporary legal status whereby they were entitled to stay and work in the U.S. for two years.
The program was a resounding success, with U.S. officials in the Biden administration crediting a plummeting drop in unlawful border crossings by Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to its launch. Through April of 2025, 532,000 had entered the U.S. under CHNV, making their way into cities nationwide and taking part in the economy in the job market through lawful jobs. In defending the program, supporters had stated it presented a secure and organized route instead of the peril many of the immigrants face in seeking to reach the U.S. border.
The CHNV program was also not immune to criticism. It was the subject of a Republican-led federal lawsuit, which claimed the Biden administration had abused its parole authority in admitting so many migrants to operate under so broad a standard of qualification. It also was the target of complaint in the area of vetting of applicants, particularly following the program’s suspension in 2024 on charges the sponsorship requests were fraudulently presented. Despite these criticisms, the Biden administration defended CHNV as a priority of its immigration agenda, asserting it had regularized migration flows and enhanced cooperation with U.S. communities.
The Reversal of the Trump Administration
When President Donald Trump returned in January of 2025, the White House acted rapidly to undo immigration policies of the Biden years, including the CHNV program. Trump officials viewed the program as a misuse of presidential power, believing parole in the immigration context was intended to be applied in narrow, case-by-case fashion, rather than as a vehicle to bring hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said CHNV will end effective immediately, and in March its recipients were given a 30-day notice: leave the United States voluntarily by April 24 or risk being detained and deported. The administration said it will target expelling those immigrants who hadn’t sought other immigration benefits, including asylum or permanent residency.
The decision stunned immigrant populations, advocacy organizations, and the legal profession. CHNV recipients had established lives in the U.S., started jobs, enrolled children in school, and established connections to their sponsors. Threats of mass deportation raised concerns about the humanitarian and logistical issues of uprooting so many individuals, and the burden it might place on U.S. immigration enforcement capabilities.
Judge Talwani’s Ruling
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s ruling on April 14 was a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s stance. In the ruling, she barred DHS from rescinding the immigration parole of CHNV migrants and suspended the deportation notices and status denials they had been sent. Judge Talwani believed rescinding the legal status en masse of potentially hundreds of thousands of individuals, ignoring the merits of each of their cases, violated due process precepts and offended the rule of law.
“The unjustified removal, on a blanket basis, of the legal status of individuals who have complied with DHS programs and entered the United States legally, is a repudiation of the rule of law,” Talwani wrote in her opinion. She added the immigrants had sought lawfully available pathways, secured sponsorship, and complied with conditions of their parole. Abruptly withdrawing the status, she believed, will erode trust in the U.S. immigration system and destabilize the lives of people who had acted in good faith.
The ruling provides the CHNV beneficiaries a temporary respite as it allows them to remain in the U.S. and retain their work permits while the legal proceedings progress. It doesn’t, however, grant them permanent protection because the Trump administration will likely appeal the decision or seek other ways of pursuing its immigration agenda.
Broader Implications
The decision Monday is the latest in a series of judicial checks on the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Last month, a California federal judge blocked the administration’s attempt to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protection for more than 350,000 Venezuelans, another Biden administration program aimed at shielding migrants from deportation. Overall, the decisions underscore the role of the judiciary in regulating executive immigration actions, and in this case, when they affect large quantities or raise concerns of legal justice.
For CHNV migrants, the ruling is a lifesaver. They have collectively breathed a collective sigh of relief at being able to remain in the U.S., but the uncertainty of the future continues to follow them. The Biden administration had not only not been renewing CHNV beneficiaries’ two-year parole, but had also encouraged them to seek other immigration benefits, like asylum or TPS. But these options are frequently complicated, backlogged, or not available to those who do not meet strict qualifications at the time of applying.
The case also serves to highlight the broader political divide on immigration in the United States. In its CHNV program, supporters argue, there is a measured immigration policy, marrying humanitarian assistance to security along the border. Opponents, including members of the Trump Administration, view it more as one of lax enforcement facilitating migration in the absence of sufficient oversight. Immigration remains a polarizing topic, as the trial of the 2024 presidential campaign showed, and its effects reach from politics to public attitudes to international relations.
Looking Ahead
The Trump administration, so far, has remained silent about Judge Talwani’s ruling, but its next action will come under close watch. It might appeal the ruling to a higher court, in addition to devising new strategies in pushing its immigration enforcement agenda. Meanwhile, advocacy organizations and bar organizations are stepping up to support CHNV migrants, including coming up with resources to guide those willing to undergo the U.S. immigration system.
