The United States gave hundreds of thousands of immigrants weeks to depart the country after announcing on Friday that it was ending their legal status.
President Donald Trump has promised to reduce immigration, mostly from Latin American countries, and implement the biggest deportation operation in US history.
About 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who entered the country through a program started by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden in October 2022 and expanded in January of the following year are impacted by the order.
Their legal protection will expire 30 days after the directive from the Department of Homeland Security is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday.
According to the order, individuals who have been sponsored under the program “must depart the United States” by April 24 unless they have obtained another legal status that permits them to stay in the country.
Greetings. Those impacted by the decision were advised to “immediately” consult an immigration lawyer by the US, which aids those who are seeking asylum in the US.
Announced in January 2023, the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program permitted up to 30,000 migrants each month from the four nations—all of whom have a dismal human rights record—to enter the United States for a two-year period.
Biden hailed the proposal as a “safe and humane” means of relieving pressure on the congested border between the United States and Mexico.
However, Homeland Security emphasized Friday that the plan was “temporary.”
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the judgment stated.
Trump this week flew more than 200 suspected members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, which has offered to detain migrants and even US citizens at a reduced cost, using unusual wartime legislation.
