McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The Biden administration is making changes to a controversial temporary parole program for immigrants from four countries, and those enrolled could be deported after two years.
The special parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans — which allows those who meet U.S. requirements to legally enter the country pending their immigration cases — will not be re-issued past two years. Anyone who is enrolled in the program and wants to remain in the United States will have to apply for parole through other means, or face deportation, Border Report has learned.
The changes were announced Monday in the Federal Register by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Executive Office for Immigration Review, and the Department of Justice, and clarify a final rule that took effect on Oct. 1. The rule also invites public comments.
“As initially stated in the Federal Register notices, a grant of parole under these processes was for a temporary period of up to two years. This two-year period was intended to enable individuals to seek humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible, and to work and contribute to the United States. Those who do not have pending immigration benefits or who have not been granted an immigration benefit during their two-year parole period will need to depart the United States prior to the expiration of their authorized parole period or may be placed in removal proceedings after the period of parole expires,” a DHS spokesperson told Border Report on Monday.
The program is not ending, and Border Report has learned that applications still will be accepted.
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Texas, has condemned the revoking of CHNV to applicants who have hit the two-year mark.
“The Biden administration should be working to expand legal pathways of migration to help reduce pressures at our border and help manage our immigration challenges. It is deeply disappointing that the administration is deciding to discontinue the CHNV parole program that has provided those fleeing Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti with a critical lifeline,” Garcia said in a statement.
The parole program began on Oct. 19, 2022, as a special parole program for up to 30,000 Venezuelan nationals to legally enter the United States each month, pending their qualification to the program. On Jan. 5, 2023, the administration added Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguan nationals seeking asylum to the program, and it became known as the CHNV parole program.
Since January 2023, a total of up to 30,000 immigrants from those four countries have been eligible to legally enter the United States each month through the program. They also may apply for work permits for up to two years.
Since it began, over 530,000 immigrants have been issued parole through CHNV, the Associated Press reports.
Prior to the program, thousands of Venezuelans crossed the border into South Texas daily to claim asylum. After implementation of this program, the numbers have significantly dropped, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Biden administration has touted this program as a way to decrease the number of immigrants seeking to cross into the United States at the Southwest border, and offers a legal pathway for immigrants to work and support themselves in the United States while their cases are pending.
However, now the administration is signaling a change to the future of the program, by saying once an enrollee hits the two-year mark, they need to have received approval to stay in the United States via another asylum application process, or they face voluntary or mandatory removal from the country.
In order to qualify for CHNV parole, a person must:
- Be outside the United States.
- Be a national of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, or be an immediate family member — spouse, common-law partner, and/or unmarried child under age 21 traveling with an eligible national from one of those four countries.
- Have an approved U.S.-based supporter to sponsor them once in the United States.
- Possess an unexpired passport.
- Provide their own commercial air travel to the United States.
- Undergo national security and public safety vetting.
- Have proper medical vaccinations.
Republican former President Donald Trump, who is running against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, told media last month that if he is reelected, he will do away with CHNV. He also promises to eliminate the scheduling of asylum interviews at U.S. ports of entry via the CBP One app.
In July, the administration temporarily paused issuing travel permits to Venezuelans, and later to immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua, who were part of the CHNV parole program after reports of fraud and that migrants were flying into the United States via over 70 countries.
On Aug. 29 travel permits were again being issued to all who qualify from those countries.
Republican lawmakers have criticized the program saying it does not fully vet immigrants and worry criminal elements could be entering the country.
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tennessee, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, has called CHNV “unlawful” and a “mass-parole scheme” and said the program should be ended.
“The department is allowing it to continue without rooting out the fraud or putting adequate safeguards in place to prevent exploitation by sponsors here in the United States. But fundamentally, there would be no fraud to prevent if DHS simply stopped importing 30,000 inadmissible aliens every month in the first place,” Green said.
A federal judge in March dismissed a lawsuit from Texas and 20 other Republican-led states that had challenged the program, alleging the states had suffered financial harm because of the parole program.
The Biden administration has repeatedly defended the program saying it provides lawful pathways for immigrants and eliminate congestion at the border.
DHS says migrants who have claimed refugee status in another country are not eligible for CHNV. That includes immigrants with dual national or permanent residency or refugee status in another country.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.