Utahns react to Supreme Court decision on humanitarian parole

LEHI – Utahns are reacting to a U.S. Supreme Court decision paving the way for the Trump administration to take away protections for migrants who came to the country under humanitarian parole.

The Supreme Court on Friday overruled a lower court that kept in place legal protections for humanitarian parolees from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The Trump administration wants to shut down that program, which allows people from those countries to come to the United States temporarily.

Related: Supreme Court ruling on humanitarian parole leaves some immigrants in Utah feeling hopeless

The case is not over, but as it moves forward, more than 500,000 parolees who legally came to the U.S. fleeing “instability, dangers, and deprivations” could now be subject to deportation, according to the Associated Press.

“Today was kind of like the last shutdown of the little hope that was left in the community,” said Carlos Trujillo, an immigration attorney in South Jordan. “We’re very distraught. This is going to increase the pool of people that the administration is going to go after for this mass deportation.”

President Trump promised to deport millions of people during his campaign for another term. The White House celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision Friday.

“We are confident in the legality of our actions to protect the American people and look forward to further action from the Supreme Court to vindicate us,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the AP.

“Today’s decision is a victory for the American people,” added Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement, accusing the Biden administration of allowing “poorly vetted aliens” into the country through the humanitarian parole program.

Ending it, McLaughlin added, “as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First.”

But Jorge Gonzalez said the program has been a lifesaver. He arrived in the United States in May 2023 after fleeing his home country of Venezuela.

“I was persecuted there,” he said.

Gonzalez now lives in Utah and works at a law office in Lehi. His arrival in the United States was made possible by humanitarian parole. Gonzalez called the Supreme Court’s decision “scary” for people who now don’t know what the future holds.

After arriving, Gonzalez applied for asylum. That status allows him to continue working and living in the U.S. for now. But he worries about other parolees who left their home countries in search of peace and security and are now in danger of deportation.

“I love America,” Gonzalez said. “I love this place.”

With the Supreme Court decision, Trujillo said he plans to help other parolees in Utah apply for asylum, but there’s no guarantee they will be allowed to stay.

“We’re going to fight harder than ever to find protection for these people,” he said, “so that they don’t have to go back to a country that simply because you are a dissenter of their political views, you can be imprisoned, you can be tortured, you can be deprived of your own life.”