In this context, parole is a type of permission that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can give when you ask to be allowed into the U.S. It allows you to stay here for a period of time, and it also allows you to apply for a work permit.

DHS has been sending messages to some people who were paroled into the U.S., ending their parole and telling them to leave the U.S. immediately. Here’s a typical message:

For some types of parole, like for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, a court decision blocking the termination of parole means that the DHS notice of termination does not apply. You can find out more about the status of that court case here.

Also, the way that DHS is trying to terminate individual parole might not be correct, so there might be ways to challenge individual termination notices.

The notice might not actually apply to you, if you applied for certain immigration benefits or if there’s a court order blocking the termination.  

If you applied for asylum, you have the right to stay here and continue pursuing your asylum claim.

If you applied for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and now your application is still pending, you may be able to stay here while your TPS application is pending. However, immigration authorities may still try to deport you because you have not yet been granted TPS.

If you are approved for TPS, you have the right to stay here while you have TPS.  

If you have a work permit based on parole, the category on the front of the card will say C11. Once your parole is terminated, your work permit is terminated as well, even though the expiration date might still show a future date.

But the termination of some types of parole was blocked by court order, so in those cases the work permits are still ok to use.

If you entered the U.S. with parole, and DHS terminated your parole, and if you entered the U.S. less than 2 years ago, DHS might try to deport you through a fast process called “expedited removal.”

The DHS agency in charge of deportations is Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If you are afraid to live in your home country, be sure to say that to ICE, if you have an encounter with them. This is especially important to do if you are facing “expedited removal.”

What happens if you have an encounter with ICE depends on the facts of your particular situation. To learn about your rights in general if you have an encounter with ICE, see our ICE Encounters factsheet.

This resource has been translated and is available for download in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, French, and Spanish.

The information in this document has been prepared by The Legal Aid Society for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act upon any information without retaining professional legal counsel.