A judge temporarily prevented ending the humanitarian immigration family reunification programs for nationals of Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Hondurasas ordered a month ago Trump Administration.
The ruling, ordered on Saturday and released this Sunday, grants an emergency motion to the affected migrants, which implies a 14-day temporary restraining order against the new measures that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on December 12.
“Plaintiffs have demonstrated irreparable harm for the purposes of a temporary emergency order. In balancing the interests of the parties, the court finds that an emergency order is warranted,” said the ruling by Judge Indira Talwani of the District Court of Massachusetts, according to appointment EFE.
The order occurs a month after the DHS announcement to end the ‘Family Reunification Parole’ (FRP) program for these seven countries, which forced immigrants covered by this benefit to leave the United States in mid-January, if they lacked another legal alternative to stay in the country.
For Cubans, they remember places like Strong Coffeethe family reunification program was created by the George W. Bush administration in 2007, and allowed US citizens and permanent residents to request a temporary stay permit (parole) for their relatives in Cuba and bring them expeditiously to the United States.
The Trump Government must defend its position
In the case in question, implemented during the Joe Biden Administration (2021-2025), the program has allowed many migrants to reunite with their families in the United States while they wait for visas or complete their immigration processes.
But the Trump administration argued that these programs were misused, maintaining that ppoorly verified people evaded the traditional process to obtain this immigration protection.
The United States cancels family reunification programs for Cuba and six other countries
Lawyers for the affected migrants, an estimated 10,000 to 15,000, have warned of harm to families, including children, because most of them would lose their legal status and have to abandon relatives.
Judge Talwani required DHS to present administrative documents by Tuesday to defend its position and file an appeal against the ruling, according to the Spanish agency.
