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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that it is revoking the legally questionable “parole” status that former President Joe Biden granted to more than 500,000 unauthorized migrants over the past three years, setting a 30-day deadline for them to leave the U.S.
Biden’s CHNV program had allowed individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the country despite lacking a legal visa.
However, more than two years into the program, the Trump administration claimed that the initiative had failed to meet its objectives, was plagued by fraud, and was no longer necessary.
“Accordingly, [Secretary Kristi Noem], in her discretion, is terminating the CHNV parole programs,” the department said in a new filing in the Federal Register, as reported by the Washington Times.
Biden launched the CHNV program amid a historic surge at the southern border, hoping that by offering migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela a legal pathway into the U.S., they would opt to fly in rather than overwhelm Border Patrol agents already struggling with record numbers, the Times reported.
The program required migrants to secure a U.S.-based sponsor and arrive through an airport, not the border. However, the sponsorship process quickly became chaotic. According to The Washington Times, gang members were serving as sponsors in some instances, while in others, fraudsters were selling sponsorships for up to $5,000 each. Although sponsors were supposed to provide financial support for the newcomers, the Biden administration appeared to enforce that requirement inconsistently, if at all.
Conditions deteriorated so badly that the administration was forced to temporarily suspend the program last year, the outlet said.
Despite CHNV’s implementation, illegal crossings at the southern border continued to break records—evidence, the Trump administration argues, that the program failed to achieve its core objective.
“These programs do not serve a significant public benefit, are not necessary to reduce levels of illegal immigration, did not sufficiently mitigate the domestic effects of illegal immigration, are not serving their intended purposes, and are inconsistent with the administration’s foreign policy goals,” the administration said.
Parole is intended to be granted on a case-by-case basis in situations of urgent humanitarian need or when there is a clear, significant benefit to the United States—typically in cases involving medical emergencies or assistance with criminal investigations, the Times noted.
However, the Biden administration created sweeping categorical parole programs that effectively handed out more than a million entry passes, bypassing traditional immigration law and creating what critics called a backdoor immigration system.
Immigrant rights advocates praised the move as a humanitarian effort, allowing individuals who might qualify as refugees to reach U.S. soil and apply for asylum from within the country, the outlet reported.
Upon taking office, President Trump immediately halted new applications for the CHNV program and also shut down another large-scale parole initiative—the CBP One App—which allowed migrants in Mexico to enter the U.S. without a visa if they scheduled appointments in advance at official border crossings.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, approximately 532,000 migrants entered the U.S. through CHNV.
DHS announced that the 30-day grace period for affected migrants will begin once the official notice of CHNV’s revocation is published in the Federal Register.
The department urged migrants to depart voluntarily. If they do not, DHS said enforcement actions will begin, prioritizing those who have made no effort to obtain legal status—such as asylum, a victim visa, or permanent residency—during their time in the U.S., said the Times.
Migrants who entered through parole but have since secured lawful immigration status will not be targeted for removal, the outlet noted further.