‘Leave Immediately': Trump administration orders self-deportation for Biden-era parolees

Miami Herald

20 hours ago

The Trump administration is telling Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans that legally came to the United States under a Biden-era program that they must immediately leave the United States and encouraging them to self-deport.
The Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday that it is notifying parole recipients of a program known as CNHV that if they 'have not obtained lawful status to remain in the U.S., they must leave immediately.' The agency said it is also revoking their work permits.
'Ending the CHNV parole programs, as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,' said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
The development comes 13 days after the Supreme Court lifted a lower court's order blocking the Trump administration from ending the program. During the Biden presidency, over half-a-million people from the four countries legally came to live and work in the U.S.
READ MORE: Trump targets Biden-era migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti for deportation
As many as half of the 531,000 migrants who entered the United States through the program have applied for other immigration benefits to adjust their status and may have a path to remain in the country, according to the Justice Action Center, a nonprofit that advocates for immigrants and has defended the parole program in court. This includes individuals who have already applied for asylum or for a green card under the decades-old Cuban Adjustment Act.
However, as many as hundreds of thousands of others now face a difficult decision: whether to remain in the U.S. — risking detention and deportation — or to voluntarily return to countries plagued by violence, hunger, and human rights abuses.
The Supreme Court ruling did not offer guidance for the Trump administration on how to carry out the ending of the program. Brandon Galli-Graves, Staff Attorney at Justice Action Center, said that the organization does not know how DHS will conduct immigration enforcement toward beneficiaries of the program. He noted that the agency previously said it intended to put as many beneficiaries as possible in expedited proceedings, a type of administrative deportation process that does not require a judge.
When the Trump administration ended the program, roughly 117,000 Venezuelans, 211,000 Haitians, 110,000 Cubans, and about 93,000 Nicaraguans had entered the country through the program.
It remains unclear whether all parole beneficiaries will receive the deportation notice or only those who have not applied for any other legal status. Galli-Graves said beneficiaries should check with their lawyers to understand how the Supreme Court case affects them.
In its statement, the Trump administration referred to parole recipients as 'illegal aliens., ' despite the fact that, to qualify for the program, individuals were required to have a financial sponsor in the U.S., pass health and background checks, and enter the country through an airport. Once admitted, they became eligible to apply for work permits valid for the program's two-year duration.
Many CHNV parolees were employed in critical sectors of the U.S. economy, from construction to elder care, helping to address labor shortages in both rural and urban areas, according to several immigration advocates. With parole protections now terminated, many of these individuals face job loss, housing instability, and disruptions to their education.
The mass termination also jeopardizes family reunification as thousands of U.S.-based sponsors, including faith communities and cherished family members, now find themselves unable to protect the loved ones they committed to support.
'Rescinding legal protections from hundreds of thousands of people who entered this country through proper channels is a deeply destabilizing decision, not just for the families affected, but also for their loved ones and the communities that have welcomed them,' said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refuge. 'These are people who play by the rules.. Tearing up that social contract overnight does nothing to advance our national security or humanitarian leadership.'