United States | Judge dismisses challenge to Biden administration humanitarian parole program

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Friday that challenged a Biden administration program that allows a limited number of nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the United States on humanitarian grounds.

• In the fall of 2022, the Biden administration launched a humanitarian parole program that allows up to 30,000 nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — along with their immediate family members — to enter the United States in a “safe and orderly way” each month.
• A group of states led by Texas sued to end the program. U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton dismissed the lawsuit, saying the states had not shown they had suffered harm as a result of the program and therefore lacked legal standing to bring suit. Judge Tipton found that the states’ fiscal injuries had in fact decreased, along with the rate of illegal immigration subsequent to the program’s implementation. Tipton’s ruling did not address the legality of the program itself.

Additional Information: In a statement, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas called the humanitarian program “a key element of our efforts to address the unprecedented level of migration throughout our hemisphere” that other countries see “as a model to tackle the challenge of increased irregular migration that they too are experiencing.” The full statement is available here.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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