Thousands of migrants have flown into the United States under a contentious parole programme for four different nationalities; the majority of them entered through airports in Florida. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data reveals more than 45 cities in the United States.
Roughly 200,000 migrants entered the country by plane under the programme between January and August of 2023, a period of eight months. Based on DHS data received through a subpoena from the House Homeland Security Committee, of those, 80% (16,562) arrived in Florida in four cities: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa Bay.
First announced in October 2022, the programme permitted a restricted number of Venezuelans to enter the country immediately by air, provided they met certain requirements such as not having entered illegally, having a sponsor in the country already, and passing biometric and biographical screening. Travel arrangements are the responsibility of the migrants; the programme does not arrange flights.
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The administration declared in January 2023 that up to 30,000 persons might enter the United States each month under the expanded programme, which would include allow entry for Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans. Accompanied by an announcement of expanding Title 42 expulsions to include those nations, it lets migrants to get work permits and a two-year authorization to reside in the United States.
Based on information provided by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 400,000 nationals have entered via the parole programme by the end of February 2024.
According to recent comments made by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the programme is a “safe and orderly way to reach the United States” and has “led to a reduction in numbers of those nationalities.”
“It is a key element of our efforts to address the unprecedented level of migration throughout our hemisphere, and other countries around the world see it as a model to tackle the challenge of increased irregular migration that they too are experiencing,” Mayorkas stated.
The top 15 cities migrants flew into during the eight-month window are:
1) Miami, Florida: 91,821
2) Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: 60,461
3) New York City, New York: 14,827
4) Houston, Texas: 7,923
5) Orlando, Florida: 6,043
6) Los Angeles, California: 3,271
7) Tampa, Florida: 3,237
8) Dallas, Texas: 2,256
9) San Francisco, California: 2,052
10) Atlanta, Georgia: 1,796
11) Newark, New Jersey: 1,498
12) Washington, D.C.: 1,472
13) Chicago, Illinois: 496
14) Las Vegas, Nevada: 483
15) Austin, Texas: 171
In the subpoena answer, DHS disclosed that as of October 2023, about 1.6 million applicants were awaiting clearance from DHS to travel to the United States under the parole programme.
“Everyone paroled into the United States is, by definition, inadmissible, including those paroled under the CHNV processes,” the Department of Homeland Security stated in its subpoena response.
Mark Green, the chair of the Homeland Security Committee, claims that the programme goes beyond the authority granted by Congress for release. “Case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit” is how the authority is to be applied.
“These documents reveal the outrageous measures Secretary Mayorkas is willing to take to guarantee that undocumented immigrants wind up everywhere in the nation—from Orlando and Atlanta to Las Vegas and San Francisco,” the statement read. “The CHNV parole programme, implemented by Secretary Mayorkas, is an illegal deception meant to conceal the growing border catastrophe from the American public. It has been established that implementing a programme that permits ordinarily inadmissible individuals to enter the country directly, as opposed to doing so for urgent humanitarian relief or major public advantage as required by the Immigration and Nationality Act, is impeachable.
Then he mentioned the House’s attempt to remove Mayorkas from office. Although the Senate hasn’t convened a trial on the articles, the chamber impeached him.
A lawsuit filed by many states seeking to stop the programme echoes Green’s criticisms of it. The twenty states said that it “amounts to the creation of a new visa programme that allows hundreds of thousands of aliens to enter the United States who otherwise have no basis for doing so.”
States have appealed after a district judge dismissed the claim. The administration of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has stated time and time again that it is optimistic the lawsuit will succeed in the end.
“Biden’s parole programme is unconstitutional and an infringement on constitutional rights. Biden is presently being sued by Florida to shut it down, and we think we will win.
According to DHS, participants in the programme must pass additional qualifying requirements in addition to a “robust security vetting” before being allowed to enter the country.
“The public can access these procedures online, and DHS has been updating the public on a regular basis about their use. These procedures, which have prevented hundreds of thousands of individuals from migrating irregularly, are a component of the administration’s plan to curb irregular migration by combining wider legal channels with harsher penalties.
