Judge to Block Trump Admin From Ending Family Reunification Parole Programs

The parole program allows U.S. citizens and green card holders to bring foreign relatives to the United States.

A sign for the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on March 24, 2025. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge said on Jan. 9 that she planned to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from ending family reunification parole (FRP) for immigrants from seven nations.

The case stems from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement in December 2025 that it was terminating the FRP program for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, citing security risks caused by insufficient vetting of applicants. Legal protections for those paroled under the FRP will expire by Jan. 14, according to DHS.

The parole program allows U.S. citizens and green card holders to bring foreign relatives to the United States as a first step toward obtaining permanent residency.

The agency’s move triggered legal action from a group of immigrants who are among the 15,000 immigrants who entered the United States through the FRP program. The plaintiffs are represented by the Justice Action Center.

At a Jan. 9 hearing, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani acknowledged the government’s right to end the program but questioned how it was carried out, noting that DHS must show that it properly notified affected individuals, rejecting the agency’s argument that its federal registry notice was sufficient to notify people of the termination.

“I understand why plaintiffs feel like they came here and made all these plans and were going to be here for a very long time,” the judge said. “I have a group of people who are trying to follow the law. I am saying to you that, we as Americans, the United States needs to.”

Talwani said she would issue a temporary restraining order to block the program’s termination, but did not specify when.

According to an emergency motion filed by the plaintiffs on Dec. 29, 2025, the DHS’s action will result in an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 FRP parolees losing their legal status on Jan. 14 unless a restraining order is issued.

“They had been waiting abroad for their visa when the State Department affirmatively reached out to their sponsoring family members and invited them to apply to the FRP processes; without an invitation, there was no way to apply,” the plaintiffs stated in the motion. “Since they arrived, FRP parolees have gotten employment authorization documents (EADs), jobs, and enrolled their kids in school.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in December 2025 that security gaps in the FRP program, caused by insufficient vetting of applicants, had enabled malicious actors to exploit these vulnerabilities to enter the United States, posing “an unacceptable level of risk” for the country.

“Parole was never intended to be used in this way, and DHS is returning parole to a case-by-case basis as intended by Congress,“ it stated in the Dec. 12, 2025, alert. ”Ending the FRP programs is a necessary return to common-sense policies and a return to America First.”

Naveen Athrappully and The Associated Press contributed to this report.