The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it will revoke the temporary legal entry pathway for over half a million people, meaning they could face deportation within a month. This order, issued on Friday, affects approximately 532,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who have arrived in the United States since October 2022. The decision has sparked widespread concerns about the potential impact on these vulnerable populations.
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03-25, 2025All affected individuals arrived in the United States with the support of financial sponsors and were granted two-year permits to live and work in the U.S. under a humanitarian parole program established by the Biden administration, known as CHNV. CHNV is an acronym for the first letters of the English names of these four countries. On January 20, former Acting DHS Secretary Benjamin C. Huffman issued a directive aimed at ending the "widespread abuse of humanitarian parole and returning the program to a case-by-case basis." This shift in policy reflects a stricter approach to immigration enforcement.
Current DHS Secretary Kristie Noem stated on Friday that the affected individuals will lose their legal status 30 days after a notice is published in the Federal Register on March 25. This means that parolees without a legal basis to remain in the United States will need to depart before their parole termination date. Humanitarian parole is a long-standing legal tool that previous presidents have used to allow people from countries experiencing war or political turmoil to enter and reside in the U.S. temporarily, showcasing its historical significance.
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to crack down on illegal immigration during his presidential campaign. However, since returning to office, he has also been targeting legal pathways for people already in the United States, as well as those planning to enter the country from abroad. Prior to the new order, beneficiaries of the program could stay in the U.S. until their parole expired, although the government had stopped processing their applications for asylum, visas, and other avenues that might allow them to stay long-term, creating uncertainty for these individuals.
The government's decision has already been challenged in federal court. A group of U.S. citizens and immigrants sued the Trump administration to terminate humanitarian parole and seek to restore the humanitarian parole program for these four countries. Lawyers and activists have also condemned the government's decision. Karen Tumlin, founder and director of the Justice Action Center, said in a press release: "Suddenly revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of CHNV humanitarian parole beneficiaries will create unnecessary chaos and heartbreak for families and communities across the country. The government's targeting of this successful, popular program—one of the few safe and legal pathways—is reckless, cruel, and counterproductive." This legal battle highlights the contentious nature of the policy change.
The Biden administration allows a maximum of 30,000 people per month from these four countries to come to the United States for two years and be eligible to work. This is part of the Biden administration's strategy to encourage people to enter through new legal channels while cracking down on those who cross the border illegally. The program is said to have reduced the number of illegal border crossings. Supporters of the federal government say that immigrants entering through this policy have helped alleviate the U.S.'s agricultural labor shortage. The Biden administration decided last fall not to allow CHNV beneficiaries to renew their two-year work permits under the program, stating that they could apply for other benefits, such as asylum and temporary protected status, offering alternative avenues for legal residency.
