Washington, D.C. — A coalition of immigrant rights organizations has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s use of a fast-track deportation process that they say unlawfully strips certain immigrants of their right to due process.
Filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit takes aim at the administration’s expansion of “expedited removal” procedures—an accelerated process that allows immigration officials to deport individuals without a hearing or access to an attorney. The plaintiffs argue that applying expedited removal to individuals granted humanitarian parole exceeds legal authority and undermines fundamental constitutional protections.
The suit, CHIRLA v. Noem, was filed by the UndocuBlack Network (UBN), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), and CASA, with legal representation from the Justice Action Center. The case represents individuals who were paroled into the U.S. through ports of entry, as part of Operation Allies Welcome or the humanitarian parole programs for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV).
“Our communities did everything the government asked of them for a chance to start new lives in this country,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director of CHIRLA. “Rather than uphold its end of the promise, the federal government is seeking to expel them without so much as a hearing. That is a betrayal of both legal and moral obligations.”
The lawsuit comes one day before the publication of a Federal Register notice that would terminate work authorization and lawful presence for many CHNV parolees by April 24, 2025.
“This is a dangerous threat to democracy,” said Patrice Lawrence, Executive Director of UndocuBlack Network. “The denial of due process to CHNV parolees is part of a broader pattern of testing anti-immigrant policies on the most vulnerable, particularly Black and Haitian migrants, before expanding them more widely.”
Nick Katz, General Counsel for CASA, drew a direct line from current immigration enforcement to longstanding patterns of abuse. “Whether it’s the attacks on birthright citizenship, the abduction of Venezuelans, or the effort to strip lawful status from parolees, the message is clear—this administration is willing to cast aside our communities. But we draw strength from each other. We will keep fighting.”
The lawsuit demands that the government halt its use of expedited removal against parolees and restore the rights and protections due to individuals who followed official legal pathways to seek safety and stability in the U.S.
