2025-48 STATE OF HAWAIʻI JOINS COALITION TO PRESERVE PAROLE PATHWAYS FOR VULNERABLE IMMIGRANTS

 

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

 

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA

 

JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

 

ANNE LOPEZ

ATTORNEY GENERAL

LOIO KUHINA

ATTORNEY GENERAL LOPEZ JOINS COALITION TO PRESERVE PAROLE PATHWAYS FOR VULNERABLE IMMIGRANTS

 

News Release 2025-48

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       

April 2, 2025

 

HONOLULU – Attorney General Anne Lopez joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) parole pathways for certain vulnerable immigrants fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries.

 

On Jan. 20, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive ordering directing DHS to terminate humanitarian parole programs. As a result, DHS stopped processing new applications for parole pathways and barred current parolees from applying for other forms of temporary or permanent immigration status. In their amicus brief filed in Doe v. Noem, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition urge 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.

 

“The state of Hawai‘i has been a major beneficiary of immigration and welcomes those who have followed lawful procedures to escape war, oppression and chaos in their home countries,” said Deputy Solicitor General Thomas Hughes, who is Hawai‘i’s lead attorney in this matter. “The Trump administration’s sudden termination of all humanitarian parole programs will have devastating impacts on immigrant communities. We were proud to join with a coalition of attorneys general to fight against the harms the federal government’s reckless actions will have on law-abiding immigrants in our states.”

 

Afghans who have supported U.S. interests abroad at the expense of their own safety; Ukrainians displaced due the devastation caused by Russia’s ongoing invasion; and Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries, all rely on parole pathways as they work toward permanent residence.

 

Attorney General Lopez and the coalition explain these immigrants are vital members of the workforce, pay substantial sums in state and local taxes, and wield significant spending power. Ending parole pathways would deprive communities in Hawai‘i and across the nation of substantial economic and social contributions, increase costs and threaten public safety.

 

Parole pathways allow newly arrived immigrants to temporarily remain in the United States and join the workforce while their request for permanent residence is under review. Many parolees apply for and receive other forms of immigration status.

 

Additionally, Attorney General Lopez and the coalition explain in the amicus that shutting down parole pathways, which would both terminate current parolees’ status and foreclose future applications, would separate families, prevent family reunification, and put current parolees at immediate risk of removal to countries with exceptionally dangerous living conditions.

 

Joining Attorney General Lopez in the amicus filing are attorneys general of California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

 

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Media contacts:

Dave Day

Special Assistant to the Attorney General

Office: 808-586-1284                                                  

Email: [email protected]        

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov

 

 

Toni Schwartz
Public Information Officer
Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General
Office: 808-586-1252
Cell: 808-379-9249
Email: [email protected] 

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov