Homeland Security ends Biden program serving 500K migrants

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday began notifying thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans that their legal status under a Biden-era parole program was terminated. The program, known as CHNV, allowed over 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to receive temporary legal status in the United States, according to a November 2024 report from Customs and Border Protection. DHS started mailing notices to program participants that their parole had been terminated, along with their parole-based employment authorization, according to a Thursday release from the Trump administration.

Why is Trump’s team doing this? DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin claimed that the Biden administration lied to America by allowing over half a million poorly vetted aliens from the four countries to enter the United States with their families. The Biden administration forced career civil servants to continue the program even after fraud was identified she said. The parole program gave noncitizens opportunities to undercut American workers, McLaughlin added. Ending the CHNV parole programs is a necessary return to common sense policies for the sake of public safety, she said.

How did the program work? The program’s use of the term parole did not imply criminality of participants, but rather that their time in the United States was limited. CHNV allowed specific individuals, decided on a case-by-case basis, to enter and remain in the United States in response to urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit. Nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela could temporarily stay in the United States for a two-year parole period if they had a U.S.-based supporter, passed security vetting, and met other criteria.

During their two-year stay, migrants and their families were allowed to pursue humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits from the government and legally work in the country. Non-profit Global Relief noted that both Democratic and Republican administrations previously enacted similar parole programs: former President Jimmy Carter during the 1980 Mariel Boatlift mass emigration, and former President George W. Bush’s 2007 Cuban Family Reunification Program. A federal judge in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction in April barring the Trump administration from ending the program. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling last month, allowing the administration to end the program.

The Department of Homeland Security’s statement encouraged former parole recipients to self-deport if they have not since obtained lawful status to remain in the United States. , The self-deportation campaign was launched by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in February. Migrants without legal status may use a CBP app to receive assistance for travel and a $1,000 bonus from the U.S. government for choosing to leave, the news release noted.

Dig deeper: Read my report on DHS offering illegal immigrants a stipend to facilitate self-deportation.