A race against the clock faced more than half a million Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians who entered the United States with a humanitarian permit known as ‘Parole’ that has been revoked by the administration of President Donald Trump, leaving them exposed to deportation after April 24.
The White House made official the repeal of the immigration benefit known as ChNV, which has allowed some 530,000 immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua reside and work temporarily in the country, after being endorsed by a sponsor.
The termination of the ‘Parole’ represents “a return to sensible policies, to public security and the idea of the United States first,” said the spokeswoman for the National Security Department (DHS, in English), Tricia McLaughlin.
The DHS argued that the program “does not provide a significant public benefit, has not been necessary to reduce illegal immigration levels, do not fulfill their planned purposes and are incompatible with the foreign policy objectives” of the White House.
In addition, the Trump government blamed the CHNV having “exacerbated delays” in the country’s migratory system that faces a case jam.
For example, some 75,000 asylum requests were submitted by foreigners who entered under this benefit to the country and that are part of the more than 3.6 million files that expect to be resolved in the Immigration Courts, according to the data cited by the White House.
Manufacturing and hospitality losing
Those who hosted the benefit have few alternatives to stay in the country. Those who do not have another legal basis to remain in the United States, such as as an asylum request or a visa or visa application for crimes victims, must leave the country before April 24, according to the DHS.
Those who do not be placed in the sights of the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE, in English) for deportation.
Each beneficiary will be notified by the Immigration and Citizenship Service (USCIS) about their immigration situation. The work permits granted through this ‘parole’ will be revoked and the DHS will cancel all the travel permit requests requested under this program.
The beneficiaries who voluntarily leave the country and cross an entry point on the border will have to report their departure when they are outside the United States through the CBP Home application, which since this Monday includes a geolocation function for users.
The criticisms of proimal organizations to the Trump government for revocation have not been waiting. In statements sent to EFE, Todd Schulte, president of FWD.US, said that the CHNV humanitarian permits, together with a similar program for Ukrainians and Afghan, has represented “a crucial improvement for our migratory system.”
The activist described the repeal as “an erroneous approach that will destabilize lives, will harm these communities and, ultimately, to all Americans.”
He stressed that the power to grant permits has been used by all the presidents of both parties for seven decades, and “the results in this case have been a resounding success. Americans have sponsored these people.
Schulte warned that with the cancellation of this migratory benefit up to 240,000 jobs with work permits from the US workforce are eliminated, including 40,000 in the manufacturing industry, 30,000 in the leisure sector and hospitality, 30,000 in construction and 30,000 in the health sector, according to FWD.US data, warned.
“We should improve legal routes such as CHNV that support US interests and not throw hundreds of thousands of people into chaos,” Schulte said.
In Trump’s sights there is still the program that hosted about 270,000 Ukrainians and more than 70,000 Afghan, who entered the country with a benefit similar to ChNV.
