A legal settlement between the Trump administration and Florida puts an end to former President Joe Biden’s “parole” program for illegal aliens and bars future administrations from restarting the practice for 15 years.
The consent decree reached between the state of Florida and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the former administration’s practice of categorically using the parole program to admit an estimated 3 million foreigners was done so “unlawfully,” according to a report by The Washington Times.
The program was intended for humanitarian purposes and case-by-case approval, but Biden’s DHS under Alejandro Mayorkas used it to allow Afghans, Ukrainians and others into the U.S. without a visa.
The 15-year settlement was signed last week by federal Judge T. Kent Wetherell, who was appointed by Trump, The Times reported.
“This consent decree will prevent a future administration from abusing DHS’s limited parole authority in the way that the Biden administration did,” Andrew R. Arthur, a policy expert with the Center for Immigration Studies and former immigration judge, told The Times.
The consent decree stems from a lawsuit filed in 2023 by then-Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“We thank the Trump administration for working with our office to obtain this result, which ensures that the next Democratic administration cannot abuse the parole system to allow another invasion of illegal aliens into our country,” Jae Williams, press secretary for current Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, told The Times.
