A federal judge approved a settlement between the U.S. government and the state of Florida Feb. 4 that imposes restrictions on immigration parole policies adopted under the Biden administration. The move resolves a long-running legal challenge and restricts federal use of immigration parole for years to come.
The consent decree, jointly proposed by Florida and the Trump administration, was approved and entered by U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II.
The decree stems from a lawsuit Florida filed in May 2023 against the Department of Homeland Security and then-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, pushing back against so-called “Parole with Conditions” and related parole programs that allowed large numbers of migrants encountered at the southern border to be released into the U.S. on parole rather than being held in detention or placed promptly into removal proceedings.
Florida argued the programs exceeded the statutory limits on parole, which under federal law can be used only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.
The lawsuit, Florida v. Mayorkas, was heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, where earlier rulings had already found aspects of Biden-era parole practices unlawful and vacated them.
Under the new decree, the Biden administration’s specific parole programs at issue have been declared unlawful and set aside, and the government is barred for 15 years from implementing or enforcing those policies or any “materially indistinguishable” parole regime that uses parole categorically to alleviate detention pressures or manage operational capacity at the border. The decree does not bar traditional, limited uses of parole — e.g. to facilitate treatment for urgent medical needs — but it sharply limits broader programs like those that were in place under the Biden administration.
Florida officials said the agreement will make it difficult for future administrations to restart similar parole initiatives without new rulemaking or legislation. Supporters of the settlement say it restores statutory limits on parole authority.
The Trump administration moved to suspend or terminate several Biden-era parole programs immediately after President Donald Trump took office again in January 2025. The administration is pursuing removal proceedings for people who entered under prior policies.