Migrants fear that the US justice system will put an end to the parole program

A lawsuit seeking to put an end to the humanitarian parole program that allows Nicaraguans, Cubans, Haitians and Venezuelans to emigrate legally to the United States, keeps thousands of people on edge, like Emilia Martínez, who from Cuba hopes to be able to reunite with her daughter in Miami thanks to said mechanism.

“I ask every day that they don’t remove it. My daughter and I pray that it continues [el programa de parole] or at least give us time to see each other again before the worst happens,” the retired teacher told the voice of america.

The “worst” that Martínez refers to is the possible end of the measure, a solution to the migration crisis on the southern US border, implemented in October, first for Venezuelans; and then extended in January to the other three nationalities.

The Joe Biden administration launched it to deter illegal border crossings and instead offer two-year temporary residence and work permits. The attempt to enter the US territory irregularly disqualifies the applicant, who may not enter Mexico or Panama without authorization.

“It was a blessing,” he assured the VOA Miryolis, a Cuban who preferred not to give her last name. The young woman herself arrived in Florida just a month after her sister sponsored her under the program.

“I did not believe it at first, but yes, I arrived and the best thing: I arrived without having to risk myself in the jungle,” he added in reference to the perilous journey through Central America to the US border.

A relief that is in danger

Migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti accounted for most of the record arrivals in the states of Texas and Arizona, bordering Mexico. According to official figures, last January, a total of 11,637 migrants arrived in the US through the parole program.

According to recent data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), the encounters with migrants from these four countries they have fallen 95% since the expansion of the program. On the day of the announcement, January 5, the average number of meetings every seven days was 1,231. Just four weeks later, on January 31, the average dropped to just 59.

The limit of travel permits was established at 30,000 per month, distributed among the four countries.

Although the program was met with mixed opinions among activists and politicians, it was seen as a relief for a large number of people who wanted to migrate, and like Miryolis, they did not have “the $15,000 that coyotes ask to cross you from Nicaragua to the US border“.

“Arriving without risking and having your papers soon after is a blessing,” said the Cuban, referring to the hundreds of thousands of migrants who currently remain in limbo and without clear resolution times for their asylum processes.

However, on January 24, 20 states filed suit against the Biden administration asking the Texas Federal Court to stop the humanitarian parole program, with a deadline until Tuesday, March 7 to prove why the program should continue.

The states of Florida and Texas, both Republican and with a large migrant population, are leading the legal action, in which they accuse the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its head, the Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkas, among others, of violating the law. federal immigration and an overreach of the Executive Power.

“The claimant states (…) face substantial and irreparable damage from the Department’s abuse of its parole authority, potentially allowing hundreds of thousands of additional aliens to enter each of their already overwhelmed territories,” the court said. claim document.

Recently, Judge Drew Tipton denied the motion made on February 14 by the plaintiff states to temporarily suspend the program while the trial continues, set for April 25.

It’s not perfect, but it works

Miami-based immigration attorney Rosaly Chaviano assured the VOA that many of his clients “are uncertain because they don’t know what is going to happen.”

The delays in the processes are also contributing to the concern of applicants for parole and their families. “There has not been a total stoppage, but it is noticeable that the times have lengthened compared to the first weeks of January, when it began,” explains Chaviano.

Although many associate the lawsuit with a longer response time in parole cases, the lawyer clarifies that “the lawsuit has done absolutely nothing to the program yet,” which continues.

“They are also concerned because if the worst happens, which is the stoppage of the program, we do not know what will happen to the people who are pending approval or what will happen to the people who already have authorizations to travel, but have not been able to travel,” said the specialist.

For Chaviano, “the program is not perfect, but it has been seen, based on the numbers and the difference in illegal entries, the positive impact it has had.”

Among the “defects” found in the humanitarian parole, is its condition of “temporary solution”, since it offers a residence permit for only two years. Cuban citizens can apply for permanent residence for one year and one day under the Cuban Adjustment Actbut for the rest of the nationalities the road to regularization can be long and arduous.

“One of the things that the states argued (in the lawsuit) is that the federal government does not have a plan for what will happen after two years. (…) In my individual opinion that is the weakness of the program,” he said.

In suspense

Nicaraguan María José Triguero, 25, applied for humanitarian parole a little over a month ago with her husband and their two children, originally from the city of Masaya, south of the capital, Managua.

Triguero said that sister-in-law Margory Altamirano made herself available to receive them in the US, where she has lived for more than 25 years, however she comments that they have not yet received a response from the authorities. Her biggest fear is that she could be suspended from the US program before a decision is made.

“We applied on February 2 and we have not yet had an answer. We continue with the uncertainty of whether or not we are going to get in with this parole thing,” Altamirano told the VOA.

He added that many people he knows have applied and have received an answer in less than a week. “We are in anguish about April 25, which is what is so mentioned, that they want to eliminate the parole, they want to freeze it and reach that date and not having been able to enter the country with the parole makes us a little sad and distressing because Right now we are without work”.

Chester Navarrete is another Nicaraguan originally from Masaya. He, unlike María José, has been in the United States since 2019 and plans to be able to meet with his mother, who is still in the Central American country.

He also fears that the program will apply the humanitarian parole be suspended and unable to meet with her.

Navarrete was detained in Nicaragua after the 2018 protests after providing humanitarian assistance to university students, for which he left for the US where he requested asylum once he was released after the approval of an Amnesty Law.

“It would be unfortunate (the suspension of parole) because it is a good option for the migrant to have a safe way to enter the country without having to opt for other paths,” he stresses. “I would send for my mother because I need a hug from her, because I already brought my wife before.”

Navarrete did not apply for parole to be reunited with his mother since it indicates that his regularization process is still underway and he recently made his first tax return, so that in the “not too distant” future he could be eligible.

“The measure approved by the President of the United States to regulate the entry of migrants through a humanitarian parole was good since in this way it guarantees the migrant a safe arrival in the country, without having to go through the odyssey that is passed to be able to enter through border since when people make that decision they are exposed to a number of dangers such as: kidnappings, extortion, human trafficking, murder, among others”, Navarrete comments to the VOA.

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