Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today co-led a coalition of 18 state attorneys general and the city and county of San Francisco in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Doe v. Noem, urging the court to uphold the lower court’s decision and recognize the lawful parole program for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) immigrants. The program allows over 500,000 CHNV immigrants, who fled dangerous conditions in their home countries, to maintain legal status in the United States. 

“I am the proud son of Haitian immigrants who, like so many immigrants, worked diligently to better their communities,” Raoul said. “Immigrants have long been the backbone of the United States, and we are a country that provides safe harbor to those fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries. These individuals are key contributors to our state and national economies. Abruptly removing their legal status and ability to work throws their lives, families and communities into chaos.”

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) established the CHNV parole program 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-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’ termination of CHNV parole, explaining that DHS unlawfully revoked those immigrants’ 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 the means to provide for themselves and their families. The Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunction, as the case continues on appeal in the 1st Circuit. 

In the brief, Raoul and the coalition defend 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. The brief notes that immigrants, including those participating in the CHNV program, contribute substantially to state and local economies and tax revenues.

In Illinois, immigrants made up 18.5% of the labor force in 2023. Immigrant households paid $10.6 billion in state and local taxes in 2023 and held $68.5 billion in spending power.

Attorney General Raoul co-led the coalition filing the brief with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Joining them in filing the brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the city and county of San Francisco.