A group of American citizens and immigrants is suing the Trump administration for ending a long-standing legal tool presidents have used to allow people from countries where there is war or political instability to enter and temporarily live in the U.S.
The lawsuit filed late on February 28 seeks to reinstate humanitarian parole programs that allowed in 875,000 migrants from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who have legal U.S. residents as sponsors.
Donald Trump has been ending legal pathways for immigrants to come to the U.S. and implementing campaign promises to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally.
Trump’s assault on humanitarian parole is just the latest act of betrayal against Ukrainians who placed their faith in the United States. After publicly humiliating President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on February 28 and withdrawing support for Ukraine’s war effort, Trump is now slamming the door on Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s war machine.
The very people who stood with the U.S. against Russian aggression — translators, military allies, refugees escaping Russian missile strikes of civilian targets — are being abandoned, cast aside as collateral damage in Trump’s relentless pursuit of isolationist cruelty.
The action is more than just an immigration crackdown, it is a deliberate effort to erase America’s role as a refuge for those fighting tyranny. By terminating legal pathways for Ukrainians, Trump is ensuring that those who escaped Russian bombardment have nowhere to turn. He is handing Putin another victory, gutting humanitarian protections for the people Russia seeks to destroy.
Ukrainians who believed in the promise of U.S. support now face the grim reality that Trump’s America does not honor its commitments, whether on the battlefield or at the border.
The plaintiffs include eight immigrants who entered the U.S. legally before the Trump administration ended what it called the “broad abuse” of humanitarian parole. They can legally stay in the U.S. until their parole expires, but the administration stopped processing their applications for asylum, visas, and other requests that might allow them to remain longer.
None are identified by their real names because they fear deportation. Among them are Maksym and Maria Doe, a Ukrainian couple; Alejandro Doe, who fled Nicaragua following the abduction and torture of his father; and Omar Doe, who worked for more than 18 years with the U.S. military in his home country of Afghanistan.
“They didn’t do anything illegal. They followed the rules,” said Kyle Varner, a 40-year-old doctor and real estate investor from Spokane, Washington, who sponsored 79 Venezuelans and is part of the lawsuit. “They have done nothing but work as hard as they can. … This is just such a grave injustice.”
Almost all of the immigrants sponsored by Varner have lived in his house for some time. He paid their plane tickets. He helped them learn English and get driver’s licenses and jobs. He had 32 applications that were awaiting approval when the Trump administration ended the program in January.
Other plaintiffs include two more U.S. citizens who have sponsored immigrants, Sandra McAnany and Wilhen Pierre Victor, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a California-based organization that assists immigrants with legal advice.
“The Trump administration is trying to attack parole from all angles,” said Esther Sung, an attorney from the Justice Action Center, which filed the lawsuit with Human Rights First in federal court in Massachusetts and provided the AP a copy in advance. “The main goal, above all, is to defend humanitarian parole. These have been very, very successful processes.”
The U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Parole authority began in 1952 and has been used by Republican and Democratic presidents to admit people unable to use standard immigration routes because of time pressure or because their home country’s government lacks diplomatic relations with the U.S.
Under parole, immigrants arrived “for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” They are allowed to work while they seek another legal way to stay in the country.
Trump ordered an end to “categorical parole programs” the day he returned to office.
Former President Joe Biden used parole authority more than any other American president, including for people who arrived using the government’s CBP One app. But the lawsuit covers only certain parole programs.
McAnany, a 57-year-old widow from Wisconsin who designs and teaches procurement and soft skills courses, sponsored 17 people from Venezuela and Nicaragua. She still has four pending applications for approval.
McAnany helped them adjust to their new country and find homes and schools. All now work more than 40 hours a week, pay taxes, and pay for their health care, she said.
“I care so much about each of the people that I sponsor,” said McAnany. “I can’t just walk away and give up.”
