Why has the US announced that the CHNV program is ending?

The United States announced Friday, March 21, that it was ending a Biden-era program that offered "legal paths" for immigrants from certain countries to enter the country.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a notification filed with the Federal Registry that 532,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who had entered the United States since October 2022 will have their temporary legal status revoked.

The parole period, which includes the program's work permits and deportation protection, will expire on April 24. All parolees involved in the program now face the real risk of deportation.

"To guarantee their prompt departure, the US government may, at its discretion, initiate expedited removal procedures where appropriate. The notification states that an immigrant can only be swiftly removed if they haven't been in the country continuously for at least two years before the inadmissibility determination date.

This action follows the government's January actions to stop "the broad abuse of humanitarian parole." Here's what you should know.

What is parole?

A person who has been granted parole under the Immigration and Nationality Act is permitted to enter the country and stay there for a set amount of time while being watched over by DHS. The clause gives the DHS secretary the authority to "permit temporary.

A parolee is only permitted to remain in the United States for the duration specified in the parole grant, and they may be granted work authorization. A 2020 study conducted by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) found that different parole programs were created in response to different situations and allowed access to different groups of foreign nationals who did not meet the requirements for refugee status.

This is not the same as applying for formal entry, which is still required in order to be allowed to remain in the country for a longer period of time. Similarly, being granted parole does not confer any legal status as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) or green card holder. Only a small number of parolee groups have acquired LPR status under immigration after receiving visas.

In what way did Biden grant parole to CHNV migrants?

In 2022, President Joe Biden started a parole entrance program for Venezuelans, and in 2023, he expanded it to include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans. The United States has no diplomatic relations with any of the four countries.

The government came under fire for failing to regulate the historically high number of illegal crossings across the US-Mexico border, which reached 1.5 million in 2022, according to a 2023 article in The New York Times.

The CHNV program, also known as humanitarian parole, required immigrants to have a sponsor in the United States who would cover the cost of their settlement and help them obtain a work visa, if permitted. The survey found that companies facing a labor shortage adopted.

“The successful use of these parole processes and the significant decrease in illegal crossing attempts demonstrate clearly that noncitizens prefer to use a safe, lawful and orderly pathway to the United States if one is available, rather than putting their lives and livelihoods in the hands of ruthless smugglers,” the DHS then said in a statement. CHNV parole appears to be working, as run-ins by CHNV migrants with the Border Patrol have decreased to a two-year low since the program was implemented in January 2023.

In his inauguration speech, he stated that "we will immediately halt any illegal entry, and we will start the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

The DHS announcement stated that the CHNV programs are "insufficient to handle very high levels of illegal immigration," or "unnecessary to Achieve Border Security Goals." The notice claimed that the programs had done nothing to stop illegal immigration across the southern US border.

The notice claims that these programs conflict with the current administration's foreign policy goals and its larger America First goal.

Additionally, the notification accused the programs of increasing migrant access to federal benefits and disrupting normal border.