On October 30, IRAP’s Litigation team traveled to San Francisco, CA for oral argument on their motion for preliminary injunction and the government’s motion to dismiss in S.A. v Trump, which challenges the Trump Administration’s termination of the Central American Minors (CAM) parole program. The case is pending in the District Court of the Northern District of California.
The CAM program was created in 2014 as a response to the tens of thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America who were fleeing violence and making the dangerous journey to the United States by land. The program provided an opportunity for qualifying children in grave danger in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to reunite with their parents lawfully present in the United States. The program was successful and enabled approximately 3,000 children and family members to safely resettle to the U.S. as refugees by the end of 2016.
Days after President Trump’s inauguration, his Administration began to shut the parole program down–first in secret while continuing to collect program fees from vulnerable families, and later by announcing without any warning that the program was officially terminated. At the same time, the Administration revoked conditional parole status for nearly 3,000 children, many of whom had been in processing for years and had already paid for plane tickets and been given travel dates.
Plaintiff children in Central America remain in immediate danger every day and Plaintiff parents remain separated from their children indefinitely because of the Trump Administration’s actions. Plaintiffs hope that the Court will provide them with preliminary relief while the case is pending.
Linda Evarts, IRAP Staff Attorney, and Daniel Asimow, a partner at Arnold & Porter, argued for the Plaintiffs.