US President Joe Biden Thursday announced the US would extend a parole program previously offered to immigrants from Venezuela to immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti but reiterated that his administration would continue to enforce Title 42 in compliance with a recent order from the US Supreme Court.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will oversee the expansion of the parole program. According to Border Patrol figures, the parole program resulted in a 90 percent decrease in the amount of Venezuelans encountered along the southern border. The Biden administration hopes that the expansion of this program will yield similar results for Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians which currently account for the largest share of illegal entries along the southern border.
The parole program requires that immigrants seeking to enter the US do so through a specified legal process. As a part of that process, immigrants must have a legal sponsor within the US who agrees to sponsor their entry to the US. Once they obtain a sponsor, immigrants will undergo a vigorous background check conducted by the US government. If the immigrant is approved, they can then schedule a time to enter the US through a legal point of entry along the southern border through the CBP One app. If the immigrant is denied or tries to enter the US without the use of the parole program, they will be returned to Mexico.
Mexico agreed to accept up to 30,000 individuals per month who fail to use the parole program. According to the DHS, “These processes will allow up to 30,000 qualifying nationals per month from all four of these countries to reside legally in the United States for up to two years and to receive permission to work here, during that period.”
Biden said of the immigration crisis, “Our problems at the border did not arise overnight, and they’re not going to be solved overnight.” According to Biden, his administration is limited in the remedies they can provide without a spending package from Congress.
The Biden administration also announced a new legal pathway to entry for immigrants who come to the US seeking asylum. Similar to the parole program, the asylum program also relies on the CBP One app. The program asks that immigrants seeking asylum schedule an appointment on the CBP One app to enter the US at a legal port of entry. Legal ports of entry include locations in Arizona, Texas and California. At that appointment, the immigrant can then present their asylum claim. Asylum claims are currently the only exception to Title 42.
