The Trump administration faces yet another challenge in its efforts to deport immigrants who are in the country legally.
A federal lawsuit filed Aug. 11 objects to the “sudden and unlawful” cancellation of parole status of immigrants living and working in Massachusetts since entering the U.S. legally between 2023 and Jan. 19 this year.
“This sudden policy shift is the latest in the Trump-Vance administration’s assault on immigrants who have followed the rules,” said Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward. The organization jointly filed the suit with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute on behalf of three individuals from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela in addition to hundreds of members of the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts.
The plaintiffs followed the Biden administration’s guidelines for undocumented migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., including the required use of a mobile application to cross the U.S.-Mexico border through designated ports of entry. Yet the Trump administration seeks to annul that process and deport them anyway.
The legal action names the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service as defendants.
Skye Perryman
“Our clients used the CBP One app because DHS required it. To now strip them of their rights and threaten them with deportation is a gross violation of the law and public trust,” Perryman said.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has been working to aggressively expel hundreds of thousands of immigrants by stripping them of humanitarian parole designations and Temporary Protective Status, programs that provide residency and work authorization as asylum cases continue.
Some of the terminations have been met with lawsuits, resulting in delays imposed by federal judges, but also with U.S. Supreme Court approval in two cases.
Immigration advocates have described the administration’s actions as a war on TPS and parole programs affecting hundreds of thousands from nations such as Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts v. Department of Homeland Security includes the language DHS used to alert plaintiffs their legal status had been rescinded even though some have asylum hearings scheduled in 2026 and 2027.
“It is time for you to leave the United States,” the DHS announcement began.
“If you do not depart the United State immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States — unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here. Any benefits you receive in the United States in connection with your parole — such as work authorization — will also terminate. You will be subject to potential criminal prosecution, civil fines and penalties, and any other lawful options available to the federal government.”
Plaintiffs are asking the U.S. district court in Boston to reverse the April parole termination and to restore their ability to stay, work and seek asylum in the U.S., and to declare the government’s action as illegal.
Georgia Katsoulomitis
The court also is asked to consider plaintiffs’ compliance with U.S. law and the devastating effect of being ordered to leave in a mass email from a “no reply” federal address.
“They joined communities around the country, received work authorization and gained employment, secured housing and obtained other benefits that were dependent on their lawful parole status,” the suit explains.
The sudden termination of parole is unlawful and harmful to immigrant families by opening them to deportation, detention and exploitation, said Georgia Katsoulomitis, executive director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
“When the government strips away a person’s status and work permit, it pushes entire families into poverty, destabilizes communities and forces people to choose between basic survival and compliance with an unjust policy,” she said.
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