Statement from Refugees International Director for the Americas and Europe Dr. Yael Schacher:
“The Trump administration has abruptly stopped processing applications in parole programs, which allow people to enter the United States for “urgent humanitarian reasons and significant public benefit.” This cruel and arbitrary policy decision leaves applicants in danger and their U.S. sponsors devastated. The Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also directed agency personnel to rapidly deport people who waited months to lawfully enter the country on parole and are now valued community members.
These actions will put lives at risk, tear families apart, and undermine many U.S. businesses that have employed people on parole in the United States. Since 2023, humanitarian parolees likely filled a third of the nation’s labor shortages, especially in critical industries such as construction, transportation, food, and health services.
Parole is a crucial supplementary form of protection with a long U.S. history of bipartisan support. Recently, parole programs have provided legal pathways to protection to Central American minors (CAM); Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV); Ukrainians, and Afghans. Parole allows people to enter the United States, unite with their relatives and supporters, and begin contributing to the richness of our communities. For example, it has meant that a teenager Refugees International interviewed in late 2022 – who was abused and unsafe in Guatemala – has now been able to reunite with her mother and begin to go to school in the United States. It has meant that a U.S. citizen and her church group could support the parole application of a friend they met when volunteering in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. Their friend, whose home was attacked in Port au Prince, is now working as an assistant teacher and health care aid in the United States.
The Trump administration gave no explanation for ending parole programs aside from their being out of sync with executive orders that misportray all immigrants as threats and burdens. An executive order on “securing the border” directs the DHS Secretary to terminate the CHNV program even though the program reduced unauthorized entry at the border by providing for orderly and lawful entry through airports. Just as we defended the legality of the CHNV and CAM parole programs during the last administration, Refugees International is committed to fighting the Trump administration’s callous treatment of humanitarian parolees in court and to ensuring members of Congress do not limit the authority to provide orderly and lifesaving parole now and in the future.”
The Views Expressed In This Article Belong Solely To The Original Author, And We Assume No Responsibility For Its Accuracy, Completeness, Or Any Consequences Arising From Its Use.
