The Trump administration is set to terminate the legal status of over half a million migrants from Latin America and Haiti, reversing a Biden-era initiative that offered them a pathway to enter the U.S. legally.
The move, announced [today/yesterday], impacts individuals who arrived under the CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela) parole program and are now being urged to “self-deport” or face potential arrest and removal.
The termination of work permits and deportation protections is slated to take effect in late April, 30 days after March 25. This decision directly affects the 532,000 migrants who entered the U.S. under the CHNV program, which was designed to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border by providing legal avenues for migration. The policy was paused shortly after President Trump assumed office.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stated it will pursue the arrest and deportation of individuals subject to this policy change if they do not leave the U.S. within the 30-day window. Migrants are being encouraged to utilize the CBP Home smartphone app to register for self-deportation.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin defended the policy shift, stating that the migrants admitted under the CHNV process were “loosely vetted” and that the program undercut American workers. “The termination of the CHNV parole programs, and the termination of parole for those who exploited it, is a return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,” McLaughlin added.
The CHNV program, introduced by the Biden administration, allowed migrants and their immediate families to enter the U.S. if they had American sponsors, granting them a two-year temporary immigration status termed parole.
This decision marks the latest in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle humanitarian-based immigration programs. The administration has also announced plans to phase out Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs for Haitians and Venezuelans and has suspended pending immigration benefit applications filed by those who arrived under CHNV.
Legal challenges to the administration’s actions are anticipated. A coalition of American citizens and immigrants have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging the cancellation of humanitarian parole and advocating for the reinstatement of the programs for the affected nationalities.
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