Latest news with #VenezuelanAssociationofMassachusetts
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Immigration crackdown: Venezuelan civic groups sue Trump admin over termination of Temporary Protected Status; call it cruelty towards vulnerable
US President Donald Trump (AP image) Venezuelan civic groups and several migrants have filed a federal lawsuit in Boston federal court against US immigration agencies, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, Democracy Forward and three migrants have filed a law suit in Boston Federal Court against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The plaintiffs allege that President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem abruptly and illegally terminated TPS protections that had been expanded under former President Joe Biden . According to the plaintiffs, in April DHS sent a mass email to TPS holders stating, "It is time for you to leave the United States." They argue that many recipients have valid work permits and other documentation allowing them to remain in the country and that TPS revocation should be decided on a case-by-case basis. They say the sudden change disrupts lives, careers and puts people at risk of deportation. "As a community-based organization, we have seen firsthand the direct harm this sudden policy inflicts on people who arrived lawfully, complied with every DHS requirement, including the CBP One process, and worked hard to build stable lives for their families," said Carlina Velázquez and Carlos Martín Medina of the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, as reported by Fox News. Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman called the decision part of an 'assault on immigrants who have followed the rules,' describing it as 'cruelty' toward vulnerable people. "Let me be clear: none of this is about immigration, it's about cruelty and the targeting of people in vulnerable circumstances," Perryman claimed. "Our clients used the CBP One app because DHS required it. To now strip them of their rights and threaten them with deportation is a gross violation of the law and public trust." TPS for Venezuelans was first granted by former President Biden in 2021 due to humanitarian concerns over Venezuela's political and economic crisis. The program was expanded in 2023 to cover about 350,000 additional migrants. After President Trump took office, Noem revoked the 2023 extension, setting in motion the cancellation of TPS protections. The policy has been the subject of multiple court rulings. In April, Judge Edward Milton Chen temporarily blocked the termination, but the US Supreme Court overturned that order in May. Chen later ruled that existing work permits could not be canceled retroactively. The Trump administration's appeal is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the lawsuit as "a desperate attempt to keep half a million poorly vetted illegal aliens in this country and undermine President Trump's constitutional authority to enforce America's immigration laws." "The Biden administration abused its parole authority to create an industrial-scale catch-and-release scheme, and the Trump administration is correcting that," she added. "This lawsuit is an insult to the tens of millions of Americans who gave this president a mandate to restore safety and common sense to our immigration system."
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Venezuelan migrants, progressive group sue Trump admin after Noem nixes Biden-era ‘protected status'
A Venezuelan civic group and several migrants sued federal immigration agencies this week, alleging the Trump administration unlawfully ended Biden-imposed "Temporary Protected Status" for Venezuelans. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, a progressive group called Democracy Forward, and three migrants filed suit in Boston federal court against the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services challenging what they called President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's "sudden and unlawful termination" of temporary protected statuses. In a statement, Democracy Forward said the plaintiffs objected to an alleged April mass email from DHS to TPS migrants stating: "It is time for you to leave the United States." The plaintiffs suggested the recipients of the blunt missive have the legal right to remain in the U.S. given their work-permitting and other related documentation they may have applied for. They further argued that TPS revocation requires case-by-case determinations and wrongly disrupts lives and occupations and risks becoming subject to deportation. "As a community-based organization, we have seen firsthand the direct harm this sudden policy inflicts on people who arrived lawfully, complied with every DHS requirement, including the CBP One process, and worked hard to build stable lives for their families," Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts official Carlina Velázquez and Carlos Martín Medina said in a joint statement obtained by Fox News Digital. Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman added that the "sudden policy shift" exhibits the "Trump-Vance administration's assault on immigrants who have followed the rules." "Let me be clear: none of this is about immigration, it's about cruelty and the targeting of people in vulnerable circumstances," Perryman claimed. "Our clients used the CBP One app because DHS required it. To now strip them of their rights and threaten them with deportation is a gross violation of the law and public trust." Migrants fleeing Venezuela – effectively a dictatorship since the late Hugo Chávez's 1999 election – were granted special protection by former President Joe Biden in 2021 due to humanitarian concerns. Biden then extended TPS in 2023, qualifying about 350,000 more Venezuelan migrants to arrive after the original timeframe imposed. After Trump took office, Noem revoked the 2023 TPS extension, which set the ball rolling on the eventual cancellation of protected status for Venezuelan migrants. In April, Obama-appointed Judge Edward Milton Chen issued an injunction blocking Noem's move to end TPS. The Supreme Court overruled Chen in a brief, unsigned order in May, allowing Noem's timeline to resume. While unsigned, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted her dissent. But Chen then followed up in June with a narrow ruling noting that preexisting work permits and the like should not be canceled retroactively. A three-judge Ninth Circuit panel in Pasadena, California, last heard arguments during a July appeal by the Trump administration during which one judge reportedly called the president's comments "arguably racist." In comments to Fox News Digital, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the lawsuit is "a desperate attempt to keep half a million poorly vetted illegal aliens in this country and undermine President Trump's constitutional authority to enforce America's immigration laws." "The Biden administration abused its parole authority to create an industrial-scale catch-and-release scheme, and the Trump administration is correcting that," she added. "This lawsuit is an insult to the tens of millions of Americans who gave this president a mandate to restore safety and common sense to our immigration system."
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Nonprofit sues DHS after Trump administration revoked legal status for migrants who entered the US under Biden-era app
Advertisement Attorneys with Democracy Forward, which also listed the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts as a plaintiff, say the government violated federal law, which 'requires a case-by-case determination that the purpose of parole was served before it can be ended.' 'This sudden policy shift is the latest in the Trump-Vance administration's assault on immigrants who have followed the rules,' Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. 'Let me be clear: none of this is about immigration; it's about cruelty and the targeting of people in vulnerable circumstances.' Messages sent to the Department of Homeland Security were not immediately returned Monday night. Democracy Forward, a national legal organization based in Washington, D.C., said hundreds of thousands of non-citizens received the email that their parole was terminated, thus ending their authorization to work and live in the US. The DHS email read, 'It is time for you to leave the United States.' Advertisement The lawsuit says the government 'provided no explanation at all for the mass parole terminations' and broke the law by failing to 'make reasonable decisions and provide adequate explanations for those decisions.' The group said the mass email in April did not identify individuals by name or provide any basis for their termination. 'They went from living in the United States legally to being deemed 'illegal aliens' overnight, substantially increasing their risk of immediate detention and removal to countries from which they fled (or even to third countries to which they have no ties),' the lawsuit reads. Since May 2023, DHS had been directing non-citizens to use the CBP One mobile app 'as the primary, if not exclusive,' method to seek parole or asylum in the US. The app was a cornerstone of the Biden administration's strategy to create and expand legal pathways to enter the United States and to discourage illegal border crossings. By the end of December, 936,500 people had been allowed to enter with CBP One appointments at border crossings with Mexico. 'When the government strips away a person's status and work permit, it pushes entire families into poverty, destabilizes communities, and forces people to choose between basic survival and compliance with an unjust policy,' said Georgia Katsoulomitis, director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. 'Ending parole status in this way is both unlawful and harmful to immigrant families by making them more vulnerable to exploitation, detention, and deportation,' Katsoulomitis added. Advertisement Material from The Associated Press was included in this report. Nick Stoico can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Federal judge in Boston says prior ruling preserves Venezuelan deportation protections
The Boston case is among four suits filed across the country by immigrant advocates who allege the Trump administration lacked the authority to revoke Advertisement Although Stearns declined to issue a stay of Noem's order ending TPS, he allowed the Boston lawsuit to go forward. On Monday, California US District Judge Edward Chen ruled that Noem's plan to end TPS for Venezuelans on April 7 threatens to 'inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted' and cost the United States billions in economic activity.' Advertisement He found the government failed to identify any real, countervailing harm in continuing TPS for Venezuelans. 'Plaintiffs have also shown they will likely succeed in demonstrating that the actions taken by the secretary are unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus,' Chen wrote in a 78-page opinion. He issued a nationwide stay that prevents Noem from ending TPS for Venezuelans while legal challenges are pending. Immigration advocates are preparing to seek a similar court order preventing Noem from ending TPS for Haitians in August. Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the suit in Boston last month on behalf of Haitian Americans United Inc., the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, and the UndocuBlack Network, arguing that the administration's plan to revoke TPS is driven by racial and ethnic bias. Outside the federal courthouse in Boston on Tuesday, Oren Sellstrom of Lawyers for Civil Rightssaid the impact of the California ruling is 'dramatic' and means that Venezuelans who were about to lose deportation protections may continue to legally live and work in the United States. A couple of dozen demonstrators from various immigrant groups gathered on the sidewalk with signs supporting deportation protections for Venezuelans and Haitians. 'Regardless of who you are in this country you have rights,' said Patrice Lawrence, executive director of the UndocuBlack Network, vowing to continue fighting for TPS as the legal challenges unfold in Boston, San Francisco, Maryland and New York. 'Justice prevailed,' said Ciro Valiente, a spokesperson for the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, referring to the California ruling. Advertisement However, he said as the government continues to aggressively move on deportations, 'The fear is still there.' TPS, which was created in 1990, is a humanitarian program that gives immigrants from 17 countries facing violence, political upheaval or natural disasters legal authority to temporarily stay and work in the United States. TPS was first granted to Haiti in 2010 following a devastating earthquake and has been repeatedly extended since then. Last year, the Biden administration extended TPS until Feb. 3, 2026 for Haitians in the program. The Biden administration first granted TPS to Venezuelans in 2021, citing political and economic instability in the country under President Nicolas Maduro. In January, it extended the protections to Oct. 2, 2026. Days after Noem's appointment in February, she announced that she was ending TPS for roughly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in April and another 250,000 in September, and for all Haitians by Aug. 3. Those actions will impact 600,000 Venezuelan immigrants and 521,000 Haitians who will no longer be able to work and may face deportation. The Justice Department argued in a court filing that Noem has 'clear authority' and discretion to terminate TPS for Haiti and Venezuela and that the statute creating the program 'broadly prohibits judicial review' of the secretary's decision. Noem vacated TPS extensions granted by the previous administration after reviewing conditions in Haiti and Venezuela, and conculding it was 'contrary to the national interest' to permit immigrants from those countries to remain temporarily in the United States, the government wrote. 'Plaintiffs' analysis fails to acknowledge that the secretary's determinations are rooted in foreign policy considerations,' the government wrote in its opposition to the request for a stay of Noem's termination of TPS. Advertisement The Boston lawsuit describes TPS as 'a critical lifeline in the United States for immigrants who have fled their home countries due to extreme violence, political upheaval, and natural disasters.' The suit says there is overwhelming evidence, based on remarks made by Trump and Noem, that the action was racially motivated. 'The list of dehumanizing and disparaging statements that Defendant Trump has made against Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants is unfortunately long: ranging from racist tropes that Haitians 'all have AIDS' and eat dogs and cats, to routinely describing Venezuelans and other Latino immigrants as sub-human 'animals,'' the suit says. . Shelley Murphy can be reached at
Boston Globe
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Mass. Haitian, Venezuelan groups sue Trump administration, claiming racial bias, unlawful rollback of TPS protection
'This racial bias translates directly into policy, both through executive action that disfavors Black and Latino immigrants — such as the TPS decisions at issue here — and action that favors white immigrants instead," lawyers wrote in the complaint. 'The Constitution forbids this type of biased decision-making.' Advertisement Lawyers for Civil Rights is representing Haitian Americans United, Inc., the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, and the UndocuBlack Network in the case. When Trump entered office for a second term, TPS for Haiti was set to expire on Feb. 3, 2026, and for Venezuela on Oct. 2, 2026. His administration is now attempting to accelerate those expirations to Aug. 3 and April 2, 2025, respectively. TPS is a humanitarian program that gives immigrants from 17 countries who are facing violence or devastation such as natural disasters Advertisement According to US Census data, Massachusetts has the second-largest Haitian population in the United States, behind Florida. As of last September, 35,320 people in Massachusetts had TPS; US Representative Ayanna Pressley, whose Boston-based district includes some predominantly Haitian communities, has previously estimated some Haiti has been designated under TPS since 2010 and Venezuela since 2021. Last month, The new legal battle mirrors lawsuits against Trump during his first term after he sought to revoke TPS for immigrants from Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal, and Sudan. Lawyers challenging Trump at the time similarly argued Trump's TPS moves were done for racist reasons and was therefore illegal. The issue was stalled in the courts beyond Trump's term, and then-President Biden ultimately rescinded the orders and extended the temporary protected status for immigrants from those countries. Sean Cotter and Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Samantha J. Gross can be reached at
