The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday that the Biden administration will not renew the temporary humanitarian entry program for hundreds of thousands of migrants with U.S. sponsors who arrived in recent years.
Since October 2022, about 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have entered the country by air and received two-year grants under the “parole” program, which will begin to expire in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, many of those migrants may remain in the country under other programs.
The parole program permits migrants with current U.S. sponsors to enter the country for humanitarian reasons or if their entry is deemed to be a significant public benefit. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration launched the parole program as a way to provide migrants avenues to enter legally and decrease illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Record numbers of migrants were caught crossing illegally during Biden’s presidency, but crossings have plummeted in recent months as Biden rolled out new border restrictions.
Voters will be focusing a lot on immigration in the Nov. 5 election, which will match Republican Donald Trump—who has criticized the parole program—against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
According to a statement from DHS spokesman Naree Ketudat, the decision to not renew the parole program for the four nationalities was made in accordance with the plan that was laid forth when the program was first introduced.
Unauthorized immigrants “may be placed in removal proceedings or will need to depart the United States prior to the expiration of their authorized parole period,” according to Ketudat.
Additional parole initiatives for Afghans and Ukrainians have been prolonged.
There are ways for the majority of the four nationalities admitted via the so-called CHNV parole program to remain in the United States.
A large number of Cubans qualify for permanent residence and eventual citizenship under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act.
The majority of Venezuelans and Haitians living in the United States are qualified for temporary protected status, which protects them from deportation and allows them to work.
Asylum seekers could be from any of the four countries.
(Reuters)
