Why the New Parole Process for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans is a Double-edged Sword

Written By Meghan M. Phillips, Esq.[1]

On January 5, 2023, the Biden-Harris administration announced a new parole process for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.[2] In the immigration context, parole has nothing to do with criminality, but means that a person who may not otherwise be eligible for admission to the United States is allowed to enter the United States.[3] Confusingly, parole historically has been treated differently than a lawful admission, and is usually intended to be temporary and is often for humanitarian purposes.[4] Choice of terminology aside, what this program means is that nationals from these four countries are allowed to temporarily enter the United States.[5]  Originally tested on Venezuelan nationals, the administration announced that, under this new program, each month the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will allow up to 30,000 individuals from these four countries to enter the United States on parole for a period of two years and that these individuals can also receive work authorization documents if they have an eligible sponsor and pass vetting and background checks.[6]

What makes the program a double-edged sword is that nationals of the four countries who do not follow this parole process are ineligible for parole into the United States and subject to expulsion either to their country of origin or Mexico, which has agreed to accept returns of 30,000 individuals from the four countries.[7] Additionally, the program requires that applicants arrive via air, have a passport, and have a financial supporter or sponsor that is a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident (green card holder) or have some other lawful immigration status such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), refugee status, asylum, parole, deferred action (such as DACA), or nonimmigrant lawful status (e.g. U or T visa).[8] This means that for nationals who cannot afford a plane ticket or lack a sponsor with lawful status and enough financial means to serve as a sponsor will be unable to successfully use the program and could be expelled to the dangerous conditions. It also means that those who are truly fleeing for their lives and safety or fear harm from their own governments would have to wait in unsafe conditions for their applications to be processed or apply to the very government they fear to ensure they have a passport to allow their international travel.

Finally, the program also excludes those who have been ordered removed from the United States in the past five years, those who have irregularly crossed the Mexican or Panamanian border after the parole program was announced (for Venezuelans, after October 19, 2022; for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans, after January 9, 2023), and unaccompanied children, which are children under the age of 18 who are traveling without a parent or guardian.[9] Again, this severely excludes many groups of people who might be in serious fear for their lives and cannot wait to flee.

This also means that the U.S. could be in violation of its international legal obligations such as the principle of non-refoulement, which guarantees that “no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm…irrespective of migration status.”[10]  Furthermore, seeking asylum is a human right also protected under international and U.S. law under the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol, and the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980.[11]

There are two other problems caused by this program. First, the program is ripe for causing prospective beneficiaries to become victims of abuse, violence, exploitation, and immigration scams.[12] The prospective beneficiaries may believe they are obligated to “repay, reimburse, work for, serve, marry, or otherwise compensate their supporter in exchange for filing Form I-134A on their behalf or for providing financial support while they are in the United States,” which could lead them to become victims of domestic violence, forced marriage, or human trafficking.[13] Other common scams include people impersonating government officials, misleading officers of support, scam websites, requests for payments by phone or email, and notaries (Notarios Públicos) and other individuals who are not lawyers who are not authorized or licensed to provide legal immigration services or advice.[14] Second, the program is only intended to be for a temporary period of two years. After that two-year period, if the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, or Venezuelan national has not applied for a new immigration status, they would remain in the United States without any work authorization or lawful status. The effect of this could be hundreds of thousands of people in the United States in limbo and at risk for deportation.

The Biden administration has pointed out that so far, the program has caused U.S. arrests of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, or Venezuelan nationals to plummet from an average of 3,367 per week to just 115, which represents a 97 percent reduction.[15] It argues that this shows that the program helps deal with the acute security challenges at the southern border while expanding and expediting “legal pathways for orderly migration.”[16] However, the program has been criticized both on the left by Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates who says that this violates Biden’s pledge to reverse hardline border policies implemented by the previous Republican administration and on the right by a coalition of 20 U.S. states with Republican attorneys general who have filed a lawsuit against the program, saying it violates federal immigration law.[17] Therefore, it remains to be seen if the program will last and its long term effects.

If you or someone you know is a Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, or Venezuelan national and you or they would like advice on the new parole process program or other immigration options, please do your research and pick a licensed and experienced immigration lawyer or representative for your case.

At VFN Immigrants First, we have licensed immigration attorneys who are admitted to practice both by state bars and EOIR (immigration court). We would be happy to help you find the best legal strategy to meet your immigration goals and help you determine if the new program could help you or someone you know now, or in the future.

Please give us a call at 703-369-4738,visit our website, vfnlaw.com, email: mphillips@vfnlaw.com, or stop by our office at 9200 Church Street, Suite 400, in Manassas, Virginia, to learn more or make an appointment for a consultation.

[1] Meghan M. Phillips, Esq., is a senior associate immigration attorney with the Immigration Law Practice Group, Immigrants First, at Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, PC. She primarily handles family and humanitarian immigration, Special Immigrant Juvenile custody, and removal defense and appeal cases. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar and admitted to practice before the U.S. immigration courts (EOIR), the Eastern District of Virginia Court, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

[2] Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Border Enforcement Actions, The White House, January 5, 2023, available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-border-enforcement-actions/.

[3] Humanitarian or Significant Public Benefit Parole for Individuals Outside the United States, United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS), September 9, 2022, available at: https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/humanitarianpublicbenefitparoleindividualsoutsideUS#:~:text=What%20Is%20Parole%3F,States%20for%20a%20temporary%20period.

[4] Id.

[5] Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Border Enforcement Actions, The White House, January 5, 2023, available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-border-enforcement-actions/.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS), January 25, 2023, available at: https://www.uscis.gov/CHNV.

[9] Id.

[10] The Principle of Non-Refoulement Under International Human Rights Law, United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), available at: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Migration/GlobalCompactMigration/ThePrincipleNon-RefoulementUnderInternationalHumanRightsLaw.pdf.

[11] Jonathan Blazer and Katie Hoeppner, Five Things to Know About the Right to Seek Asylum, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), September 29, 2022, available at: https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/five-things-to-know-about-the-right-to-seek-asylum.

[12] Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS), January 25, 2023, available at: https://www.uscis.gov/CHNV.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Ted Hesson, U.S. arrests of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants plummet, Reuters, January 25, 2023, available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-arrests-cuban-haitian-nicaraguan-venezuelan-migrants-plummet-under-new-2023-01-25/.

[16] Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Border Enforcement Actions, The White House, January 5, 2023, available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-border-enforcement-actions/.

[17] Ted Hesson, U.S. arrests of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants plummet, Reuters, January 25, 2023, available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-arrests-cuban-haitian-nicaraguan-venezuelan-migrants-plummet-under-new-2023-01-25/.

This blog post is not intended to provide legal advice or substitute for the advice of legal counsel with respect to specific facts and situations. See disclaimer