NY Attorney General Co-Leads Coalition to Protect Vulnerable Immigrants
NEW YORK, New York – New York Attorney General Letitia James has co-led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in the United States in filing an amicus brief supporting the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) humanitarian parole programs, or parole pathways, for vulnerable immigrants fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries.
On January 20, US President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order directing DHS to terminate humanitarian parole programs.
As a result, James on Friday said DHS stopped processing new applications for parole pathways and stopped adjudicating current parolees’ applications for other forms of temporary or permanent immigration status.
In their amicus brief filed in Doe v. Noem, James and the coalition urged the court to grant a preliminary injunction to halt the Trump administration’s actions, “which have upended the lives of tens of thousands of legal immigrants and threaten to tear communities and families apart.”
“Vulnerable immigrants fleeing violence deserve protection, families seeking stability deserve to be kept together, and new Americans seeking better opportunities deserve to be able to contribute to local economies throughout the nation,” said James.
“The parole pathways programs help address all of these issues, and ending them would force vulnerable people to return to dangerous conditions and would leave thousands of businesses without workers,” she added.
“My office is leading a coalition of attorneys general to fight for these programs and protect vulnerable communities.”
James noted that parole pathways allow newly-arrived immigrants to temporarily remain in the United States and join the workforce.
She said many parolees apply for and receive other forms of immigration status.
The New York Attorney General said immigrants who have relied on the parole pathways include Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Afghans and Ukrainians.
The coalition explains in their brief that these immigrants are “vital members of the workforce, pay substantial sums in state and local taxes, and wield significant spending power.”
In New York, they say immigrants made up 27.8 percent of the labor force in 2023, and held 75.1 percent of home health aide jobs and 67.7 percent of housekeeping jobs.
“Ending parole pathways would deprive New York and other states of substantial economic and social contributions, increase costs, and threaten public safety,” the coalition argued.
Joining James in filing the amicus brief were the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
