MIAMI: The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced revocation of legal safeguards for around 532,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who have been in the US since October 2022.
These immigrants, who entered America with financial sponsors and received two-year residency and work permits, will lose their legal status on April 24, or 30 days after the Federal Register publishes the notice.
The DHS directive affects individuals currently residing in the US under the humanitarian parole programme. It follows the Trump administration’s previous decision to terminate what they said was a “broad abuse” of humanitarian parole, a legal provision historically used by US Presidents to provide temporary residency in the country to people from nations experiencing warfare or political unrest.
During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump, then the Republican Party’s candidate for Oval Office, had vowed to remove individuals residing illegally in the US. Since commencing his second term in January, the MAGA leader has consistently restricted legal immigration pathways for entry and residency in the United States.
Prior to this DHS order, humanitarian parole participants could remain in the US until their parole expired, despite the administration’s cessation of processing asylum applications, visas, and other requests for extended stays.
However, legal challenges to the DHS order have already been filed in federal courts. American citizens and immigrants have jointly filed a lawsuit against the termination of humanitarian parole, seeking to restore the programme for the four nationalities.
Humanitarian parole policy under Joe Biden
The administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden permitted monthly entry of up to 30,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, for two-year periods with work authorisation. Mexico, too, agreed to accept an equal number of deportees from these four countries due to US deportation limitations.
Cuba accepted approximately one deportation flight monthly, while Venezuela and Nicaragua refused deportations. The three nations maintain adversarial relationships with the US.
On the other hand, Haiti accepted numerous deportation flights, particularly following a migrant surge in Del Rio, Texas, in 2021. However, ongoing instability there has complicated US deportation efforts.
Since late 2022, over 500,000 people have entered the US under CHNV (Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans) policy. This initiative formed part of the Biden administration’s strategy to promote legal entry channels whilst increasing enforcement against illegal border crossings.
