The court did not explain its reasoning in the brief order, as is typical on its emergency docket. Two justices publicly dissented.
In Springfield, where more than 10,000 Haitians are estimated to reside, affected immigrants are anxious but continuing “business as usual” to support themselves and their families, Haitian Community Help and Support Center President Vilès Dorsainvil said. He said this decision will impact “thousands” of Haitians in Springfield.
“It’s a very bad situation since most of them, their asylum [applications] have not been approved and this work permit under the humanitarian parole, it’s the only thing that gives them access to the work until they adjust their status to another one,” Dorsainvil said.
Immigrants sending money back to family in Haiti are in a particularly precarious position, he said. These funds are often all that is keeping their family out of emergency temporary shelters in Haiti.
“Sometimes the shelters, they are not really safe, because they can be invaded by the gangsters at any time,” Dorsainvil said.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Trump plan, what’s next
Republican President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to deport millions of people, and in office has sought to dismantle Biden administration polices that created ways for migrants to live legally in the U.S.
Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, including those with legal status under the humanitarian parole program, were abducting and eating pets during a debate with then-President Joe Biden.
His administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal judge in Boston blocked the administration’s push to end the parole program.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said the Biden-era policies weren’t in line with immigration law. “We are confident in the legality of our actions to protect the American people and look forward to further action from the Supreme Court to vindicate us,” she said.
But Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, said the decision has “effectively greenlit” deportation orders for a half-million people.
“I cannot overstate how devastating this is,” she said. The court “allowed the Trump Administration to unleash widespread chaos, not just for our clients and class members, but for their families, their workplaces, and their communities.”
Katie Kersh, senior legal attorney for Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), said local immigration enforcement has been more focused on people who already have orders of removal, but that could change at any time.
People who have lost a protected status are typically given a “grace period” to voluntarily leave the country in a certain amount of time, Kersh said, but she said she does not know what will be the case with this decision.
Immigrants under parole may still be able to work if they have not received notice of their work permit being terminated, Kersh said.
Friday’s Supreme Court ruling was about the humanitarian parole program. Many other Haitians in the United States are here under Temporary Protected Status. The Trump administration has also accelerated the end of that program. It had been extended until February 2026, but that protection will now expire in August.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Supreme Court details
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in dissent that the effect of the high court’s order is “to have the lives of half a million migrants unravel all around us before the courts decide their legal claims.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent.
Jackson echoed what U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in ruling that ending the legal protections early would leave people with a stark choice: flee the country or risk losing everything. Talwani, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, found that revocations of parole can be done, but on a case-by-case basis.
Her ruling came in mid-April, shortly before permits were due to be canceled. An appeals court refused to lift her order.
The Supreme Court’s order is not a final ruling, but it means previous legal protections for these immigrants will not be in place while the case proceeds. It now returns to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
The Justice Department argues that the protections were always meant to be temporary, and the Department of Homeland Security has the power to revoke them without court interference. The administration says Biden granted the parole en masse, and the law doesn’t require ending it on an individual basis.
Taking on each case individually would be a “gargantuan task,” and slow the government’s efforts to press for their removal, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued.
The high court’s decision could ultimately affect another ruling from Talwani this week in favor of other people covered by humanitarian parole policies, including Afghans, Ukrainians and children from Central America.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Conditions in Haiti
Whether the protections here were supposed to be temporary, the horrid conditions in Haiti that caused thousands of people to flee have changed little in years, except perhaps to get worse.
Haiti’s severe poverty and political instability have been worsened by a series of natural disasters. In 2021, Haiti’s president was assassinated. In 2023, the U.S. ordered all non-essential personnel to leave the country. In March 2024, a state of emergency was declared as violent gangs had taken over much of the country. Last fall, the largest airport was closed because gangs were firing at planes.
The U.S. government’s State Department has had a “Do Not Travel” advisory on Haiti for over eight months, citing “kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and limited health care.”
The most recent update in early May said gunfire was reported near the U.S. Embassy. It urged people to avoid the area and “use extreme caution in areas where you are not known to local residents. Monitor local media for updates and avoid areas where violence, demonstrations, or disruptions are reported. Keep a low profile. Be aware of your surroundings. Be prepared to shelter in place.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“A question of life or death”
Biden used humanitarian parole more than any other president, employing a special presidential authority in effect since 1952.
Beneficiaries included the 532,000 people who have come to the United States with financial sponsors since late 2022, leaving home countries that are fraught with “instability, dangers and deprivations,” as attorneys for the migrants said. They had to fly to the U.S. at their own expense and have a financial sponsor to qualify for the designation, which lasts for two years.
The Trump administration’s decision was the first-ever mass revocation of humanitarian parole, attorneys for the migrants said. They called the Trump administration’s moves “the largest mass illegalization event in modern American history.”
Making these immigration decisions is “easy” for the Trump administration, but for some of those affected “it is a question of life or death,” Dorsainvil said.
“At the end of the day, the majority of them are just being here working and trying to contribute to the good cause of the country,” Dorsainvil said. “Springfield is the perfect example and when you look at it you see that they are there in every sphere of life, within the health department and the school district; they are everywhere.”
The legal case is the latest in a string of emergency appeals the administration has made to the Supreme Court, many of them related to immigration.
The court has sided against Trump in other cases, including slowing his efforts to swiftly deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a prison in El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law called the Alien Enemies Act.