Humanitarian parole for immigrants suspended
On August 2nd, it was announced that the humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela has been suspended, according to a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
The United States “temporarily suspended” the granting of new humanitarian permits for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The U.S. government decided to suspend humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela due to possible fraud in many cases.
These humanitarian permits, known as “parole”, allowed people from these countries to travel and enter the U.S. legally.
The Department of Homeland Security informed EFE on Friday, August 2, about the decision to pause the program, which grants entry of up to 30,000 people from these four countries to the U.S. each month and allows them to obtain a work permit for a period of two years.
The program, which began in late 2022 only for Venezuelan nationals and was later expanded to include the other three nationalities has allowed the entry of nearly half a million migrants to the U.S., according to DHS data.
The decision to freeze the program is related to allegations of fraud in the applications, as revealed by the U.S. network Fox News on Friday.
Although it has not been detailed why the humanitarian parole for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela is suspended, it is estimated that it will be reinstated after some adjustments are made.
A DHS spokeswoman did not confirm this information to EFE, but explained that the agency decided “as a precautionary measure” to freeze the granting of travel authorizations “while it conducts a review of sponsor applications”.
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Humanitarian parole for immigrants suspended
The agency “will resume processing applications as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards,” the spokeswoman stressed in a written statement.
According to Fox, an “internal report” by DHS found “high levels of fraud” in sponsor applications, which led to a pause in the awarding of new permits since last month.
The program, which has been the target of criticism and legal action by the conservative opposition, is part of the measures of Joe Biden’s administration to curb migration at the southern border.
In December 2022, a month before the program was expanded to include these nationalities, authorities reported more than 30,000 arrests of migrants from the three countries.
That number dropped sharply to fewer than 900 arrests in February 2023 and has remained below 15,000 arrests per month since then.
Persons arriving with “parole” to the U.S. have temporary authorization for two years to remain legally in the U.S. and obtain a work permit.
Supporting persons, or applicants, must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents or beneficiaries of another lawful status, according to USCIS.
