The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow it to end a program that permits hundreds of thousands of immigrants to live and work in the United States temporarily.

The emergency appeal arose from a lower-court order keeping in place temporary legal status for more than 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Those who were temporarily protected from deportation through the humanitarian parole program, known as CHNV, were set to lose their legal status on April 24. The administration published a notice in the Federal Register on March 25 giving those affected a 30-day notice before the termination date.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston ruled last month that mass parole terminations could not happen without each case being reviewed.

The “early termination, without any case-by-case justification, of legal status for noncitizens who have complied with DHS programs and entered the country lawfully undermines the rule of law,” she wrote. Talwani said those affected would face “essentially a hostage choice” if she didn’t stay the administration’s order, They would have to either go back to the country they fled or stay in the U.S. illegally. Solicitor General John Sauer argued in the request for emergency relief from the Supreme Court that the judge’s decision wrongly intrudes on the Department of Homeland Security’s authority.

He added ending the program early allows the federal government to remove people from the country more quickly, in line with the Trump administration’s policy goals.

Created in 2022, the CHNV program was seen as a way for migrants who were fleeing economic and political instability, persecution and environmental disasters in their home countries to termporarily gain a place to live. The goal of the program also was to help limit the number of migrants coming through the southwest border.

It is the latest challenge to Trump’s immigration agenda that has terminated several programs initiated by the previous administration.

In addition to the court cases, the Trump administration has also targeted elected Democratic lawmakers who appear to be standing in the way of carrying out the administration’s policies. Three Democratic governors have also been called to testify on Capitol Hill next month about sanctuary policies in their states.

There have been at least 220 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration since Inauguration Day, ABC News reported. Approximately 60 of the 220 cases have centered on Trump’s immigration policy.

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