Eunice Lee
Volume 77, Issue 5, 1313-1392
Under the Biden Administration, over 1.5 million noncitizens arrived in the United States through an under-studied immigration power known as “parole.” On his first day back in office, President Trump signed multiple executive orders targeting these programs, directing termination and describing their recipients as illegal. Since then, the Administration has systematically stripped hundreds of thousands of individuals of parole protections.
These noncitizens now face threats of mass deportation, including the attempted use of expedited processes. Many fled grave harms, and all came via pathways presented to them as lawful. Under our immigration laws, arrival with permission confers significant substantive and procedural protections, which courts and agencies must now ensure.
This article examines the authority, mechanisms, and doctrines underlying immigration parole. Congress enacted modern parole into law 73 years ago, but executive officials have exercised the power for over a century. For decades, presidential Administrations have invoked parole to provide large-scale immigration relief. Beneficiaries have included military service persons, allies at home and abroad, WWII veterans, separated families, victims of disaster, and many others. Far from awarding illegality, parole creates lawful paths for people to follow.
Even under drastically changed policy aims, executive officials must consider the compelling needs and reliance interests of parole recipients. Rather than narrowing or eliminating parole, Congress should preserve the power for future administrations. Most critically, courts must enjoin any attempts to deport millions of parole recipients through expedited processes. Individuals who previously arrived via parole have a right to full immigration court proceedings and remain potentially eligible for multiple forms of relief. Courts must protect the rights of parole recipients and unequivocally reject attempts to illegalize and deport them en masse.
“[T]here was no specific authority to release an excluded alien on parole . . . [h]owever, the practice existed, for the need was there.” Matter of L-Y-Y-, Attorney General, 1960.
“Parole [speech] . . . is an individual act. It is wilful [sic] and intellectual.” Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics, 1916