A United States federal judge has stopped President Donald Trump’s plan to quickly cancel the legal stay of over 500,000 immigrants from four Latin American countries.
The immigrants, who came from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti, were legally allowed to stay in the US under a parole programme started by former President Joe Biden in 2022.
In a court ruling on Monday, Judge Indira Talwani said the Trump administration could not remove these migrants so quickly, as the government had misunderstood the law.
“The court grants emergency relief staying the Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans,” she said in her ruling from Boston.
The parole programme had allowed up to 30,000 migrants from the four countries to enter the US each month and stay for two years. It was designed to help people fleeing poor human rights conditions in their home countries.
In March 2025, the Trump administration said it would cancel the programme and gave migrants only 30 days to leave the country. Their legal stay would have officially ended on April 24.
But Judge Talwani said the rule did not apply to people who were already in the country legally. She explained that fast deportation measures only apply to people who entered the US illegally, not those who were given permission through a government programme.
The ruling is the latest legal challenge to Trump’s immigration plans. Since returning to office, Trump has promised to deport “millions” of undocumented migrants.
He has also taken tough actions, such as using wartime laws to fly suspected members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, where they are now being jailed.
Critics have said the Trump administration is targeting Latin American immigrants unfairly. However, Trump and his supporters believe the US must control its borders and reduce illegal immigration.
The White House has not yet responded to the court’s decision.
