Applicants and beneficiaries of the Central American Minors (CAM) parole program filed this class action lawsuit on June 13, 2018 challenging the Trump Administration's termination of the program and its revocation of parole for nearly 3,000 children. Seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, as well that the defendants be equitably estopped, the plaintiffs alleged that the termination of the program violated the Administrative Procedure Act, regulations promulgated by the Department of Homeland Security, and Fifth Amendment due process and equal protection. The plaintiffs were represented by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and the law firm Arnold and Porter LLP. The plaintiffs filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The case was assigned to Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler.

Established in 2014, the Departments of State (DOS) and Homeland Security (DHS) set up CAM as a dual refugee/parole program in response to the dramatic rise in the number of unaccompanied children from the so-called “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The CAM program allowed children from these countries who had at least one parent living lawfully in the U.S. to apply for refugee resettlement or parole while still in their home countries; in the two and a half years it was in operation, the program enabled at least 3,000 people to emigrate to the U.S. However, within a few days of President Trump’s inauguration and without any public announcement, the CAM program stopped processing applications, even those which had already been submitted. On August 16, 2017, DHS formally announced that the CAM parole program would be terminated and that conditional parole for all CAM beneficiaries who had not yet traveled to the United States would be rescinded.

On July 12, 2018, the plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction which would the prevent the government from terminating the CAM program and restore the conditional parole approvals that had been rescinded in August 2017, arguing that the continued separation of children from their parents was causing them irreparable harm. As of July 31, 2018, the court scheduled a hearing on the motion for October 11; the government had yet to file a reply brief; and the case is still ongoing.

Alexander Walling - 07/31/2018


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