The United States has announced the termination of the legal status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, giving them just weeks to exit the country.
President Donald Trump has vowed to execute the largest deportation campaign in US history and to restrict immigration, primarily from Latin American nations.
This order impacts approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrived in the United States under a program initiated in October 2022 by Mr. Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, which was later expanded in January of the following year.
These individuals will lose their legal protections 30 days after the Department of Homeland Security’s order is published in the Federal Register, which is set to occur on Tuesday.
Welcome.US, an organization that aids those seeking refuge in the United States, has urged those affected by this decision to “immediately” consult with an immigration attorney.
The Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program, introduced in January 2023, permitted entry into the United States for two years to up to 30,000 migrants per month from these four countries, all of which have troubling human rights records.
Mr. Biden promoted this initiative as a “safe and humane” solution to alleviate the strain on the crowded US-Mexico border.
However, the Department of Homeland Security reiterated yesterday that the program was “temporary.”
“Parole is inherently temporary, and relying solely on parole does not provide a foundation for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it equate to an admission into the United States,” the order stated.
Last week, Mr. Trump invoked rare wartime legislation to deport over 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, which has offered to detain migrants and even US citizens at a reduced rate.
Nicolette Glazer, an immigration attorney in California, remarked that the order would impact the “vast majority” of the half a million immigrants who arrived in the United States under the CHNV program.
“With only 75,000 affirmative asylum applications submitted, the vast majority of the CHNV parolees will find themselves without legal status, work permits, and at risk of removal,” she shared on X.
“The chaos will be unimaginable.”
Karen Tumlin, director of the immigrant rights organization Justice Action Center, criticized the Trump administration for “breaking a commitment the federal government made to the hundreds of thousands” of immigrants and their sponsors in the United States.
“Suddenly revoking the lawful status of hundreds of thousands of CHNV humanitarian parole recipients is going to create unnecessary chaos and heartbreak for families and communities nationwide,” she stated in a press release.
Over the past decade, more than seven million Venezuelans have fled their homeland as the oil-rich nation’s economy deteriorates under the leadership of leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.
