Trump administration terminates parole programs for over 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela

WASHINGTON, DC: The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is terminating the parole programs for “inadmissible aliens” from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which were announced in 2022 and 2023, according to a statement by the DHS.

The DHS noted that parole will also be terminated for the immediate family members of the people from these countries.

“The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) is terminating the categorical parole programs for inadmissible aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and their immediate family members (hereinafter referred to as “CHNV parole programs”) that DHS announced in 2022 and 2023. This Federal Register notice is intended to provide context and guidance to the public regarding the termination of the CHNV parole programs and related employment authorization”, the department said in a statement.

Commonly known as CHNV parole programs, this was launched under the Biden administration.

The department further mentioned that the parolees without a lawful basis to remain in the United States following the termination of the CHNV parole programs must depart the US before their parole termination date.

The decision came after DHS reviewed the efficiency of the CHNV Parole program which was introduced so as to secure the borders.

On January 20, 2025, Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Securing Our Borders,” which established a policy of the United States to take all appropriate action to secure its borders via a range of means, including deterring and preventing the entry of illegal aliens into the United States and promptly removing all aliens who enter or remain in violation of Federal law.

In its document, DHS said that on review, it found the CHNV parole program to have a “deterrent” and “incentive” approach that did not result in a sufficient and sustained improvement in border security, thereby “exacerbated challenges associated with interior enforcement of the immigration laws.”

“CHNV parole programs have at best traded an unmanageable population of unlawful migration along the southwest border for the additional complication of a substantial population of aliens in the interior of the United States without a clear path to a durable status”, the DHS document noted.

According to the New York Post, the work permits, and deportation protections for roughly 532,000 people from the four nations will be terminated on April 24, according to a notice posted by the Department of Homeland Security in the Federal Register and set to be published on March 25.

Notably, the parole program which was launched under the Biden administration in October 2022 allowed foreign nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly into the US and stay and work for up to two years, provided they could obtain a sponsor living in the country.

It was observed that the program was plagued by rampant fraud, and in July 2024, the Biden administration temporarily paused it after an internal review found that thousands of sponsors for the migrants were listing fake social security numbers or phone numbers and using the same physical address for thousands of parole applications, as reported by the New York Post. (ANI)