In a shift in policy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it will end legal protections for about 532,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The new policy, which is set to be enforce, starting April 24, targets those who entered the country under the humanitarian parole program since October 2022.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the people affected by that policy, who arrived with financial sponsors, will lose their legal status 30 days from when the directive is officially published in the Federal Register. This step fits with the Trump administration’s push to roll back immigration and stop what it calls the “abuse” of humanitarian parole.
The humanitarian parole program under the Biden administration enabled up to 30,000 people per month from these four countries to come into and work in the U.S. for two years. It went along with an arrangement for Mexico to take a similar number of deportees. But deportation efforts have been hindered as Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua have largely refused to take the exiles back. 
The ruling has already been challenged by legal action. A group of US citizens and immigrants has filed a federal lawsuit against the administration, to restore the program. The ongoing legal case may affect the lives of more than half a million immigrants, casting a shadow on the humanitarian and political consequences of the policy change.
