More than 530,000 migrants who entered the U.S. under a unique parole program during the Biden administration had their legal status terminated and are being told to “self-deport,” according to a notice posted in the Federal Register on Friday.
Migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) were given special parole status at the height of the migrant surge at the border. This allowed them to enter the country despite serious questions about the sponsors in the U.S. who were bringing them in.
An internal government audit revealed by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) showed that Social Security numbers of dead sponsors in the U.S. and fake phone numbers were used on applications. One street address from an application was used by 19,000 migrants looking to enter the country under the program. Abuses of this kind forced the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to temporarily shutter the program in July 2024.
Phony sponsors, as well as sponsors who misrepresent who they are, is a problem that’s endemic in the immigration industry. This proves to be particularly troubling when unaccompanied minors are involved. The Biden administration was so panicky about sending migrant children home with a sponsor that they didn’t vet the sponsors properly, leading to an unknown number of kids being trafficked.
As for the CHNV parolees, fraud was encouraged, because in order to take part in the parole program, a sponsor was necessary. This led to all kinds of abuses that allowed migrants from gang-infested countries to enter the U.S.
The Trump administration’s decision to strip the legal status from half a million migrants could make many vulnerable to deportation if they choose to remain in the U.S. It remains unclear how many who entered the U.S. on parole now have another form of protection or legal status.
In a notice set to formally publish in the Federal Register on Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said revoking the parole status would make it easier to place the migrants in a fast-track deportation process known as “expedited removal.”
Under a Trump-era policy implemented in January, expedited removal can be applied to certain migrants in the U.S. for two years or less.
The parole program was never meant to be a permanent solution to the “humanitarian crisis” that drove so many migrants from those four countries to the U.S. In fact, when the program was announced in Feb. 2023, the Biden administration opened “humanitarian parole” to migrants “who have a sponsor in the U.S. and who pass a background check to come to the U.S. for a period of two years to live and work lawfully.”
The two years are up, and any expectation that these individuals would be staying in the U.S. was mistaken.
“The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) grants DHS the discretion to temporarily allow certain non-U.S. citizens to enter or remain in the United States if they apply for admission but lack any legal basis for admission.” Again, the key word is “temporarily.” The DHS order calls for an end to the program on Apr. 24, 2025.
But the formal notice on Friday announcing its elimination throws into doubt the ability to remain in the United States for hundreds of thousands of people who could face grave danger or economic duress if they are forced to return to their home countries.
“It’s taking the livelihood away from thousands and thousands of people who are here legally, rendering them undocumented and putting their lives at risk,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an advocacy organization.
I’m very, very sorry that these soon-to-be-illegal aliens are being forced to leave. But they evidently didn’t read the fine print that mentioned several times that the parole was temporary.
Open borders advocates are portraying this as cruel. I prefer looking at it as complying with the law.
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