DHS starts canceling Biden's 'parole' for Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans

Homeland Security said Thursday that it has begun issuing cancellation notices to hundreds of thousands of migrants who came to the U.S. under one of President Biden’s “parole” programs, and urged them to self-deport before they have to face formal removal.

The migrants — Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans known collectively as CHNV — are also being told that their work permits are no longer valid and they can no longer legally hold jobs here.

Those who do self-deport can claim the $1,000 “exit bonus” the administration is offering to get people to remove themselves.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Biden administration “lied” to the migrants about the program, suggesting that parole was a more lasting status than it really was.

“Ending the CHNV parole programs, as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,” she said.

The department announced earlier this year that it was mass-revoking the paroles but a district judge issued a hold. The Supreme Court two weeks ago lifted that hold.

That cleared the way for the new notices to go out even as the case is still being argued in the lower courts.

Notices are being emailed to the addresses the parolees provided, the department said.

More than 500,000 migrants entered the U.S. under the CHNV program. They had to line up a financial sponsor and promise to fly into an airport in the interior.

The goal was to take pressure off the southern border.

But the program proved rife with fraud. People were buying sponsorships for $5,000 apiece and gang members and other parolees were allowed to sponsor newcomers. In one case, someone used former first lady Michelle Obama’s passport number on an application.

Parole is supposed to be used on a case-by-case basis in instances where there is a public benefit to the U.S. or an “urgent” humanitarian reason for the migrant. In the past, that had meant cases where someone was needed to serve as a witness on a criminal investigation, or where a medical emergency was involved.

President Biden vastly expanded the use of parole, forging it into a secondary immigration system for millions who lacked a legal visa to enter.

The Center for Immigration Studies has calculated that parole was granted to 2.9 million people during the Biden era.