The Biden administration’s plan to reduce the chaotic flow of migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border is being turned into a political issue by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and others, who see it as a plan to bring hundreds of thousands of migrants back covert operations into the United States.
The White House announced the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole program on January 5, 2023. Individuals from these four countries may apply to legally enter the United States from abroad under the humanitarian parole authority of U.S. immigration law.
White House officials said the move was part of the administration’s efforts to stem illegal entry to the U.S. southern border. Once applicants prove they have a financial sponsor in the United States and pass a background check, they can enter the country legally. Humanitarian parole authorities allow approved applicants to temporarily live and work legally in the United States.
The plan was modeled on the Ukrainian plan and the earlier Venezuelan plan.
CIS report
Trump’s claim was based on a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington-based organization that advocates restricting immigration into the United States
According to CIS, the government has not announced the airports at which 320,000 travelers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have arrived in the United States since the program began.
Reports show migrants arrived at 43 U.S. airports, but the government refused to list them, citing sensitive operational information that is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act.
“Today’s announcement that 325,000 people were flown in from unknown territory – immigrants were flown on planes, not across the border… is unbelievable,” Trump said in a speech on Tuesday. “They transported 325,000 immigrants. Let’s go. They cross the border into our country.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnyk, policy director for the American Immigration Council, told VOA that the U.S. government will not pay immigrants to fly to the United States, and that the program requires people to obtain travel authorization, purchase their own tickets and take commercial flights to come to the United States. . flight.
“Every person who is granted parole is vetted by the U.S. government before being granted parole status. The idea that people arriving through this government program are ‘uncensored’ or ‘illegal immigrants’ is blatantly false,” Reichlin-Meyer Nick said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security also told VOA that those whose applications are approved and receive travel authorization must purchase a commercial airline ticket to fly to the United States and undergo screening upon arrival at the port of entry.
The program has a total monthly enrollment limit of 30,000.
parliamentary powers
Congress granted parole authority to the program in 1952 under President Joe Biden. The program allows the executive branch to admit individuals “on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public interest.”
In his speech on January 5, 2023, Biden stated that applicants must have a legal sponsor in the United States.
Applicants must then “subject to rigorous background checks and apply from outside the United States without crossing the border illegally,” Biden said. “If they apply and their application is approved, they can use the same application, the CBP One application, present it at the port of entry and be able to legally work in the United States for two years. That’s the process.”
The CBP One app “is actually an organized way to show [up] At the port of entry,” Leon Fresco, an immigration attorney and former U.S. Department of Justice official, told VOA.
Legal Status
This program does not lead to U.S. citizenship or permanent residency.
However, Fresco said people may be able to adjust their immigration status from temporary parole to a more permanent one, such as by obtaining a visa or sponsorship through a U.S. relative, which could lead to a green card.
After one year of residence in the United States, Cubans can apply for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
“That is, if you [a Cuban] lawfully admitted or paroled [the U.S.]After a year, you apply for a green card,” Fresco said. “Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans have to apply for asylum or marry a U.S. citizen or find other solutions. “
People under the parole program can obtain work permits that are valid for two years. They are not undocumented immigrants; they have legal immigration status, Fresco said.
monthly figures
U.S. Customs and Border Protection releases CHNV program data monthly. As of the end of February, more than 386,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans had arrived legally under the program.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told VOA: “These procedures are part of the administration’s strategy to combine expanded legal pathways with stronger consequences to reduce irregular migration and have deterred hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. Normal Immigration.” Public; claims about secret plans are false. “
David Bier, deputy director for immigration policy at the liberal Cato Institute, wrote in a September briefing that the parole program “changes the landscape of immigration in the United States.”
“The wide availability and speedy adjudication of these pathways leads people to seek out sponsors and apply for legal entry rather than traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border,” Beale wrote.
Biden has used parole powers more than any other president, something Trump has strongly criticized, calling it an “outrageous abuse.” He vowed to end it all if he returned to the White House.
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