DHS Issues Notices of Termination for the CHNV Parole Program

On June 12, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began sending termination notices, by email, to approximately 530,000 individuals who entered the United States under a recent parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV). These parolees are being informed that their parole status and work authorization is being revoked immediately.

Many immigration compliance attorneys and employers had been anticipating that DHS would provide some guidance with a short grace period before the effective date of the end of employment authorization documents (EADs) for CHNV parolees. This termination coincides with the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans under the 2023 designation.

Below is the email sent to CHNV parolees at their email address on file with USCIS:

On March 25, 2025, the DHS announced the termination of the CHNV parole programs. That announcement stated that the parole period for aliens whose parole has not already expired by April 24, 2025, would terminate on that date unless the Secretary [of DHS] makes an individual determination to the contrary.

A court temporarily ordered DHS to pause taking action concerning the termination of CHNV parole periods, but the U.S. Supreme Court has since held that DHS may proceed with terminating your parole granted under the CHNV parole programs. Accordingly, DHS is now terminating your parole by issuing this Notice of Termination of Parole. If your Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, was approved based on your parole into the United States pursuant to the CHNV parole programs….your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is hereby revoked as of the date of this notice. A condition upon which your employment authorization was granted no longer exists, and 15 days have passed since you were notified of our intent to revoke your parole-based EAD. Your EAD is no longer valid. This decision is without prejudice to consideration of subsequent applications for employment authorization filed with USCIS. This notice informs you that your parole is now terminated.

History of How We Got Here

On January 6, 2023, the Biden administration launched a humanitarian parole program allowing certain nationals from the four countries to apply for entry to the United States for a temporary stay of up to two years. On March 25, 2025, DHS issued a notice terminating, as of April 24, the humanitarian parole held by Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, who entered the United States through it.

However, on April 14, a federal judge halted and enjoined DHS from terminating humanitarian parole status and work authorizations for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The Trump administration appealed and on May 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied DHS’s motion for a stay pending appeal. The appellate court did not undertake any significant action regarding the DHS’s appeal and DHS sought to move the case to the Supreme Court. On May 30, the Court lifted the injunction, allowing the cancellation to go forward on May 30, 2025. DHS is now notifying parole recipients that if they have not obtained lawful status to remain in the United States, they must leave immediately.

Employer’s Burden 

One issue that employers are facing immediately is how to know whether their employees are on CHNV parole and thus, subject to having their EADs revoked. 

Currently, CHNV parolees/employees are receiving emails from DHS/USCIS notifying them of the loss of their work authorization, as stated above. Additionally, E-Verify is in the process of notifying E-Verify Employer Agents that they need to log in to E-Verify and review the Case Alerts on the revocation of EADs. 

However, most employers are not enrolled in E-Verify; thus, there is no way for employers to have direct confirmation from DHS. Even if enrolled in E-Verify, if the employer has an Employer Agent, such notice will be sent directly to the Employer Agent. Unless these alerts are provided to the employer, it will be difficult for Employer Agents to determine to whom the alerts apply, especially if the Employer Agent has hundreds of accounts. In many cases, employees who are receiving the revocation notices have been notifying their employers of the revocation. Will all employees receiving the revocation notices notify their employer? This is very unlikely. 

If notified by the employee, what action should the employer take? It should not immediately terminate those employees; rather, the employer should ask them whether they have other work authorization. For example, a CHNV parolee may have applied for asylum and been issued an EAD with the code/category C08 or been the recipient of a family-based adjustment EAD (code/category C09).¹ If an employee has another EAD with a different category, or other work authorization document, the employee continues to be eligible for employment. 

A second method by which employers may become aware of the revocations is if supporting documentation is retained, employers can review that documentation for category C11 (parole status) to see if one of the four countries in question, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, is listed. Even if this data is on the EAD, there is a slight chance that their parole is not via CHNV. Thus, the employer can question the employee on this matter and determine whether they have another form of work authorization. If so, their work status is governed by the other documentation.

If, at this point, an employee does not have any documentation showing eligibility for employment, the employer must promptly terminate the employee. 

If the employer does not retain supporting documentation,² is not informed by their employee, nor receives an E-Verify alert, must it question every employee who has a current EAD to determine if it has been revoked due it being issued to CHNV parolees? There are potential legal ramifications to that approach. If not, how does an employer have knowledge of the revocation of the employee’s EAD? Without doing so, an employer does not have actual knowledge that an employee’s C11 EAD status has been revoked as this information is not normally recorded on the I-9 form.

In order for the government to establish an employer has knowingly employed an undocumented worker, it must have knowledge, actual or constructive³ of an employee’s undocumented status. If so, the employer is knowingly employing an undocumented worker and is subject to a fine of up to $5,724 per employee.

If an employer possesses EADs with the category/code C11 as supporting documentation with the I-9 form, must that employer question each employee about the EAD? If the EAD’s expiration date has passed, employers must do so as is the case with every expired EAD. But if the EAD has not expired and has the C11 code, must the employer question their employees on their work authorization status? This is an open question on whether that employer has constructive knowledge of knowingly employing an undocumented worker. Employers with questions about whether and how much to question employees with EADS about their particular circumstances should consult with immigration counsel.