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The United States government will not allow people from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela , who arrived in the country under a program known as “humanitarian parole,” to extend the benefit to migrants for more than two years , a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told EFE.
More than half a million people of these four nationalities have entered the country under the program , which began in October 2022 for Venezuelans and was extended to the other three nationalities in February 2023.
The decision, announced less than a month before the November 5 elections, comes amid a storm of criticism of the program by Republicans and their presidential candidate, Donald Trump , who also said that, if elected, he would end the benefit.
Parole, which requires a sponsor in the U.S., grants beneficiaries permission to enter and work legally in the country for a period of two years.
At the end of this period, people in this program who have not applied for another immigration benefit “will have to leave the U.S. (…) or they will be placed in deportation proceedings,” explained DHS spokeswoman Naree Ketudat.
Strategy to stop migrants
The Joe Biden administration launched the program as part of its strategy to curb migration to the United States , while also beginning to impose asylum restrictions on the border with Mexico.
People from Venezuela and Haiti who arrived in the country with parole before July 2023 and June 2024, respectively, have the possibility of applying for a benefit called Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
