The United States Department of Homeland Security made an announcement recently regarding the revocation of legal protections for a significant number of individuals from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, leaving them vulnerable to potential deportation within roughly one month.
The order applies to about 532,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States since October 2022.
These individuals initially arrived in the US with financial sponsors and were granted two-year permits to reside and work in the country. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem disclosed that they are slated to lose their legal status either on April 24 or 30 days post the notice’s publication in the Federal Register.
This change in policy particularly affects individuals who are already present in the US and who entered the country through the humanitarian parole program. This adjustment comes subsequent to a previous decision by the Trump administration to terminate what was described as the “widespread abuse” of the humanitarian parole, a traditional legal mechanism employed by presidents to permit individuals from nations experiencing war or political disturbance to enter the US temporarily.
During his campaign President Donald Trump promised to deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally, and as president he has been also ending legal pathways for immigrants to come to the U.S. and to stay.
DHS said parolees without a lawful basis to stay in the U.S. “must depart” before their parole termination date.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status,” DHS said.
Before the new order, the beneficiaries of the program could stay in the U.S. until their parole expires, although the administration had stopped processing their applications for asylum, visas and other requests that might allow them to remain longer.
The administration decision has already been challenged in federal courts.
A group of American citizens and immigrants sued the Trump administration for ending humanitarian parole and are seeking to reinstate the programs for the four nationalities.
Lawyers and activists raised their voices to denounce the government’s decision.
Friday’s action is “going to cause needless chaos and heartbreak for families and communities across the country,” said Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit at the end of February. She called it “reckless, cruel and counterproductive.”
The Biden administration allowed up to 30,000 people a month from the four countries to come to the United States for two years with eligibility to work. It persuaded Mexico to take back the same number from those countries because the US could deport few, if any, to their homes.
Cuba generally accepted about one deportation flight a month, while Venezuela and Nicaragua refused to take any. All three are US adversaries.
Haiti accepted many deportation flights, especially after a surge of migrants from the Caribbean country in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, in 2021. But Haiti has been in constant turmoil, hampering U.S. efforts.
Since late 2022, more than half a million people have come to the U.S. under the policy, also known as CHNV. It was a part of the Biden administration’s approach to encourage people to come through new legal channels while cracking down on those who crossed the border illegally.
