Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Court Hearings

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On Wednesday, May 28, 2025, a federal judge from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a nationwide court order lifting the Trump administration’s suspension of adjudications for immigration benefit applications submitted by noncitizens who were lawfully paroled into the United States under certain categorical parole programs implemented during the Biden administration.

Those affected by the suspensions were parolees in the following programs:

  • Military Parole in Place (MPIP) for members of the U.S. armed forces to petition their relatives for parole
  • Uniting for Ukraine (U4U), for Ukrainian citizens and their family members to apply for advanced authorization to travel to the United States to request parole for up to two years and apply for employment authorization with USCIS
  • Noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) authorizing parole requests of up to two years, and the ability to apply for employment authorization from USCIS
  • Family Reunification Parole (FRP) programs permitting individuals from Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, and El Salvador to receive advanced authorization to travel to the United States while their family-based immigrant visas are pending.
  • Central American Minors Program (CAM) for individuals from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala lawfully present in the United States to request immediate relatives not present in the United States to be granted access to the Refugee Admissions Program.

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united-states-supreme-court-6330563_1280On May 19th the U.S. Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a legal victory after the justices agreed to lift a lower court order that had previously stopped the President’s efforts to strip Venezuelans of deportation protections granted under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

What is TPS?

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a humanitarian program allowing nationals of certain countries to remain in the United States temporarily, if the government has determined that it is unsafe for them to return to their home country for humanitarian reasons, such as armed conflict or a natural disaster.

It allows nationals of designated countries to live and work in the United States for a temporary period of time, during which they are protected from deportation. Those who qualify are given temporary employment authorization, which is automatically extended if the government extends their TPS validity period.

Biden’s Designation of Venezuela for TPS

The original TPS designation for nationals of Venezuela was issued on March 9, 2021, due to extraordinary conditions preventing their safe return to Venezuela (the 2021 designation). A separate re-designation was issued on October 3, 2023 (the 2023 designation).

Before leaving office, the Biden administration extended Venezuela’s 2023 designation for an additional period of 18 months, which was meant to last from, April 3, 2025, to October 2, 2026.

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pieter-van-de-sande-r6BdUpN_iSk-unsplash-scaledPresident Trump’s first 100 days in office have been marred by controversial actions targeting both legal and illegal immigration.

In its latest move, the Trump administration is going even further by targeting “sanctuary” cities which are state and local jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement officials. “Sanctuary” cities have been known to enact policies that prohibit the detention of individuals solely based on their immigration status and restrict the sharing of information about immigrants with federal authorities.

To force them into compliance, the Trump administration has begun filing lawsuits against sanctuary cities seeking to penalize them for their disobedience.

The first of these lawsuits targets Colorado and Denver for impeding federal immigration authorities from carrying out deportations. Denver is one of many states with state laws that prevent state and local officials from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. For instance, a Denver state law prevents the use of the city’s resources to assist with immigration enforcement, while a separate executive order establishes Denver as a “sanctuary city,” welcoming undocumented immigrants.

If Trump has it his way, the lawsuit would undo Colorado’s sanctuary state laws by declaring them unconstitutional and prohibiting their enforcement.

Interestingly, in responding to the lawsuit, the governor of Colorado Jared Polis denied Colorado’s status as a sanctuary state and said that Colorado regularly cooperates with federal law enforcement authorities.

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arrested-8303916_1280In the latest clash between the Trump administration and the judiciary—Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan has been arrested by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for accusations of helping a man evade immigration authorities.

This all went down on Friday April 25th after allegations that the judge directed an undocumented immigrant and his lawyer to exit her courtroom through a side door after learning that federal immigration agents were waiting in the hallway to arrest him.

Upon being spotted by agents outside the courthouse, the man was pursued on foot and was ultimately taken into custody.

These actions have prompted a showdown over allegations of obstruction of justice amid Trump’s immigration crackdowns. The U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi has accused the judge of interfering with the government’s enforcement priorities claiming the arrest sends a “strong message” to judges that they will be prosecuted if they “escort a criminal defendant out a back door.”

The circumstances surrounding the judge’s arrest remain unclear. What is known is that six federal officers descended upon the Milwaukee County Courthouse to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national attending a court hearing to respond to battery charges in connection with a criminal complaint filed by his roommate.

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