On Friday, October 4, the Biden administration announced that it would not extend the humanitarian parole program for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The decision has sparked outrage among many immigrant rights advocacy groups who say it could endanger “the lives of as many as 530,000 people”. Similar programs for Ukraine and Afghanistan have been extended in the past. Why not do the same for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela?

This parole program, abbreviated as the “CHNV Parole Program” in reference to the countries it covers, allows citizens of the designated countries to seek temporary asylum in the United States. In an email, Jacqueline Charles, a journalist covering Haiti and the Caribbean for the Miami Herald, clarified that the administration had not ended the program “but decided it will not extend the two year window for those already admitted under the program.” That is an important nuance because it means people from these countries will continue to be eligible for the humanitarian parole program. Under this program, the United States has committed to admit up to 30,000 nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela every month.

Mark Green, the Republican U.S Representative for Tennessee’s 7th congressional district, told the New York Post that the federal government’s move was an “optics-driven smokescreen” by the Biden administration to appear tough on immigration just weeks before the election. The Biden administration has in fact taken a number of restrictive measures to curb the number of crossings into the United States, including an executive order that restricts asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the Associated Press, these measures are a response to the administration’s low poll numbers on its handling of migration, which could be a liability for the Democratic Party in the election next month.

Michael Wilner, the Chief Washington Correspondent at McClatchy, suggested another possible explanation for this decision.

“The administration didn’t renew parole for these groups because they didn’t believe they could guarantee that a future administration would maintain the program. Renewing it would give individuals a false sense of security. By giving them advance notice that they won’t be renewing it, eligible individuals who fall within these groups have time to look at alternative paths to legal status,” Wilner said in a statement via email.

In fact, Haitians who arrived in the country before June 2024 and Venezuelans who entered the United States before July 2023 continue to be eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The TPS program allows beneficiaries to obtain work authorization, it protects them against deportation and establishes a path for them to be granted travel authorization. Cubans have a separate process that allows them to obtain permanent status. This special process, which is guaranteed by the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 (CAA), “allows Cuban natives or citizens living in the United States who meet certain eligibility requirements to apply to become lawful permanent residents”. Nicaraguans appear to be the most vulnerable group because they are not eligible for any specific program, although they can apply for asylum like all other nationalities, with no guarantee of approval.

The federal government’s decision not to renew the humanitarian parole program for the four countries comes after months of intense scrutiny from Republicans. They have repeatedly described the program as “an abuse of presidential executive authority,” according to the Miami Herald. In September, Trump announced in an interview with Fox News that his administration would not recognize the legal status of people admitted under the humanitarian parole program, putting them at risk of deportation. Earlier this year, about 20 Republican-led states sued the Biden administration over the parole program, though a federal judge ultimately upheld it in March.

Dr. Johnny Laforet, a Haitian lecturer at Princeton University, believes that the program, despite its imperfections, has achieved positive results from the government’s point of view.

“The government wanted to stem the flow of migrants coming into the southern border”, said Laforet. “If you compare the number of border crossings before and after the program was established, you will clearly see the difference”. Back in May,  FWD.us (pronounced Forward US), an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy organization, published a report that showed that the CHNV humanitarian parole program had successfully reduced “unauthorized migration to the border”. Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed to the Washington Post that “illegal crossings from those four countries [had] fallen 99 percent since the program began in 2022 for Venezuelans and 2023 for the other nationals”.

The humanitarian parole program was launched in October 2022 to provide a legal pathway for Venezuelan migrants trying to flee their country. It was extended in January 2023 to include nationals of Haiti, Nicaragua, and Cuba. Since then, the program has allowed more than 500,000 migrants from those four countries to enter the United States with temporary legal status.

Speaking about the benefits of the program specifically for Haitian migrants, Dr. Laforet said that “in addition to applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) once they arrive in the U.S., which the administration has made available to them, this wave of newcomers can also get married or find a job that helps them get their green card.”

Overall, Dr. Laforet believes the program has done a lot for the Haitian community, including those who were already established in the United States. “[The parole program] is also good for the Haitians already living in the United States, because now their family members can join them here, and they no longer need to worry as much about their well being back in Haiti.”