By Luis De Jesus
02 Aug 2024, 23:55 PM EDT
The United States has decided to temporarily suspend the granting of new humanitarian permits for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, known as paroles, which allow people from these countries to travel and enter the country legally.
The Department of Homeland Security informed EFE about the decision to pause the program, which allows up to 30,000 people from these four countries to enter the United States each month and grants them a work permit for a period of two years.
The program, launched in late 2022 exclusively for Venezuelan citizens and then expanded to include the other three nationalities, has facilitated the entry of nearly half a million migrants into the United States, according to DHS data.
The suspension of the program is related to allegations of fraud in the applications, the network revealed. Fox NewsA DHS spokeswoman did not confirm this information to EFE, but explained that the agency decided “as a precautionary measure” to freeze the allocation of travel authorizations “while sponsor applications are reviewed.”
The spokeswoman stressed that the agency will resume processing applications as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards.
To apply for the permit, migrants need to have a sponsor in the United States who has legal status and demonstrates sufficient income to financially support the program beneficiary.
According to Fox News, an “internal report” by DHS identified “high levels of fraud” in sponsor applications, prompting a pause in the granting of new permits since last month.
The program, which has been the target of criticism and legal action by the conservative opposition, is part of the measures taken by the Joe Biden administration to curb migration at the southern border.
The measure, coupled with asylum restrictions implemented over the past two years, has helped reduce the number of people from these four countries arrested at the border with Mexico. The decrease has been especially notable in the arrests of people from Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP).
In December 2022, a month before the program expanded to include these nationalities, authorities reported more than 30,000 apprehensions of migrants from these three countries. That number dropped dramatically to fewer than 900 arrests in February 2023 and has remained below 15,000 apprehensions per month since then.
People who arrive in the United States on parole are granted temporary authorization for two years to legally remain in the country and obtain a work permit.
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