Judge blocks Trump rapid-fire deportations for immigrants with parole status
That new tactic arrived amid pressure within the Trump administration to ramp up arrests in support of President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda, a detail Cobb cited in her ruling. But she said the basis for the expansion of 'expedited removal' and for targeting those previously granted parole exceeded the administration's legal authority and was arbitrary.
The White House has put intense pressure on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrest numbers, with the aim of 3,000 a day. Trump officials view the immigration courts as one of the biggest roadblocks in reaching its goal of 1 million annual deportations and have used the immigration court arrests to increase its numbers.
Immigration attorneys have scrambled to adapt to the tactic in recent months, preparing their clients for the possibility of being detained at ICE check-ins and immigration courts. The arrests have spurred fear in immigrant communities across the country, with attorneys warning of a chilling effect among immigrants who have long followed the rules.
'This case's underlying question, then, asks whether parolees who escaped oppression will have the chance to plead their case within a system of rules. Or, alternatively, will they be summarily removed from a country that — as they are swept up at checkpoints and outside courtrooms, often by plainclothes officers without explanation or charges, may look to them more and more like the countries from which they tried to escape?'
It's unclear how many immigrants are impacted by Cobb's ruling. She estimated the number as 'hundreds of thousands,' but statistics compiled by Republican lawmakers and immigration opponents suggest the figure could be 1 million or more.
As illegal crossings at the border with Mexico mushroomed into a political crisis during the Biden administration, officials increasingly turned to immigration parole as a means to limit chaotic scenes at the border by allowing immigrants from Central America to enter the U.S. legally.
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