Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined 18 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting the continuation of the CHNV parole program, which allows over 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to live and work legally in the U.S., as the case is reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
Per the news release distributed on Thursday, July 3: “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Doe v. Noem, urging the Court to uphold the lower court’s decision and recognize the lawful CHNV parole program. The program allows over 500,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan immigrants, who fled dangerous conditions in their home countries, to maintain legal status in the United States.
“Humanitarian parole programs give immigrants who fled violence and persecution the chance to become valuable members of Maryland communities, allowing them to start families, get jobs, and contribute to our economy,” said Attorney General Brown. “Abruptly terminating this program would not only separate families, but would also harm Maryland businesses and communities that depend on these law-abiding hard workers who just want to build a better future for themselves and their families.”
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the CHNV parole program in 2022 and 2023 for immigrants fleeing violence and unbearable conditions in their home countries, specifically Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The program provides parole recipients with the opportunity to live and work legally in the United States on a two-year basis for urgent humanitarian reasons.
Shortly after taking office, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the DHS Secretary to terminate the CHNV parole program and other Biden-Harris era humanitarian parole pathways, abruptly upending the lives of over half a million lawfully present immigrants across the country.
The district court entered a preliminary injunction against DHS’s termination of CHNV parole, explaining that DHS unlawfully revoked their parole status en masse based on flawed legal reasoning. The court maintained that abruptly upending the CHNV parole program would cause irreparable harm and leave over 500,000 immigrants suddenly without legal status, unable to work, and without means to provide for themselves and their families. The Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunction, as the case continues on appeal in the First Circuit.
In the brief, the coalition defends the district court’s decision, emphasizing that the unlawful termination of CHNV parole en masse would separate families, endanger recipients, disrupt economies, worsen existing labor shortages, and threaten public safety.
Joining Attorney General Brown in submitting this brief are the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Illinois, New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai‛i, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.”