June 12, 2025

CONTACT
press@justiceactioncenter.org
press@humanrightsfirst.org
media@haitianbridge.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice today to all beneficiaries of the humanitarian parole pathway for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (“CHNV” humanitarian parole) directing them to “self-deport” immediately. This impacts approximately 500,000 people who entered the U.S. lawfully, after their U.S. sponsors’ applications were approved and they were heavily vetted, before being granted temporary legal parole status.

This comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration’s request to proceed with its plans to strip the legal status of an estimated half a million people en masse who came to the U.S. through the CHNV humanitarian parole processes.

“The Trump administration is actively creating a larger class of undocumented people by literally de-legalizing them and taking away their work authorization early, a cruel slap in the face to hundreds of thousands of people who followed the exact processes the U.S. government required of them,” said Karen Tumlin, Founder and Director of Justice Action Center. “Let me be very clear: this is another threat to all of us who believe in due process and the rule of law. This is another callous action to sow chaos and fear in communities throughout the country, and we will not stand for it.”

“I am as outraged as I am heartbroken by this cruel move to target our immigrant communities,” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director and Founder of organizational plaintiff Haitian Bridge Alliance. “CHNV beneficiaries and their sponsors put their trust in the U.S. government and underwent extensive vetting in order to secure lawful status, and now are having the rug violently pulled out from under them and taking away their legal status, again this proves what we knew all along this not about “legal” or “illegal” immigrants. To our brothers and sisters in the CHNV program: we see you, we are with you, and we will continue to stand by you as we fight for justice.”

“This is a devastating blow to hundreds of thousands of lawful immigrants and their U.S. sponsors who welcomed them into their homes and communities,” said Anwen Hughes, Legal Director of Human Rights First. “There is no question that the Trump administration is needlessly and flagrantly flouting U.S. law, and we will continue to fight in the courts to ensure justice for our communities.”

For more than 70 years, Republican and Democratic administrations alike have established parole processes to advance important American interests, including promoting family unification, advancing urgent humanitarian interests, and enhancing migration management. Learn more about our humanitarian parole litigation, Svitlana Doe v. Noem, here.

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Justice Action Center (JAC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting for greater justice for immigrant communities by combining litigation and storytelling. JAC is committed to bringing additional litigation resources to address unmet needs, empower clients, and change the corrosive narrative around immigrants in the U.S. Learn more at justiceactioncenter.org and follow us on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Human Rights First is a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. For nearly 50 years, Human Rights First has worked to create a just world in which every person’s intrinsic human rights are respected and protected. Learn more at humanrightsfirst.org and follow us on Twitter/X, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and builds solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. haitianbridge.org