A federal judge on Thursday signaled she will stop the Trump administration from removing deportation protections for more than a half-million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who were admitted into the United States under a humanitarian parole program during the Biden presidency.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in Boston federal court that her decision will allow the paroled migrants to stay in the United States as they pursue immigration benefits. In effect, it will prevent the Department of Homeland Security from revoking their parole status as part of an administration plan to end the humanitarian program on April 24.

For now, the judge’s intent to issue a stay prevents the agency from terminating the migrants’ parole rights granted by the Biden administration. It signals a major victory for the paroled migrants from the four countries, who sued the Trump administration in the hope of remaining in the United States for a two-year period.

Many of them have been living and working with permits in South Florida after being sponsored by relatives to come to the United States to apply for asylum or other protections instead of trying to get in through the U.S.-Mexico border, where a migrant crisis erupted during the Biden administration’s watch.

Last month, President Donald Trump sought to halt the humanitarian parole program as part of his crackdown on ending legal pathways for immigrants to come and stay in the United States under the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

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