Art: Daniel Robles.
August ended with news on immigration: the Biden Administration announced the restart of a program known as humanitarian wordswhich allows citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the United States legally, with the help of sponsors and now with new security measures, and, on the other hand, immigration authorities stopped processing, due to a ruling by a Texas judge, applications for the program called parole in placewhich was introduced in June by the same Democratic Administration and which benefits spouses and children of those who have US citizenship.
Regarding the humanitarian words for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, which was introduced in January 2023, its objective is to provide a legal path to immigrants of those nationalities, so that they can enter the United States while restricting the granting of asylum to those who cross the border illegally, as occurs in the south, with Mexico. The program was temporarily suspended in August because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detected possible fraud: some 3,200 people were acting as sponsors of more than 100,000 applicants, with suspicions of the existence of human trafficking networks.
The program now has heightened security measures: more extensive screening is required for financial sponsors in the United States, with reviews of financial capacity, criminal records, financial records and fingerprints, among others. According to the AP, authorities discovered thousands of cases of sponsors who used the same postal addresses, IP addresses or telephone numbers, as well as applications with Social Security numbers of deceased people.
The program allows up to 30,000 people from the four countries to enter the United States for a period of two years and obtain work authorization each month. Applicants must have a financial sponsor in the United States and enter through an airport, not the land border. According to DHS estimates, there were about 30,000 applications pending verification at the end of August.
All instances of the parole in place program, implemented by the Biden Administration in June (Art: Daniel Robles).
There are also pending applications for verification in another immigration program promoted by the Biden Administration: the parole in placeannounced last June by executive order and offering legal status to undocumented immigrants (spouses and children) of those with U.S. citizenship. Applications had begun to be accepted but were suspended after Texas District Judge J. Campbell Barker ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by 16 states, driven by Republican attorneys general, who invoked that a political decision would encourage illegal immigration, one of the main issues of the presidential election campaign.
“This program is a process that allows spouses and stepchildren of American citizens to apply for a temporary residence permit, known in English as parole in place. The program opened on August 19 and Immigration accepted applications until August 26, but then 16 states filed a lawsuit against this program saying that the Biden Administration overstepped its boundaries by creating it, arguing that only Congress can authorize these programs. Then a Texas district judge issued an order saying that these applications cannot be accepted. They can no longer process the applications until this lawsuit is resolved,” explained immigration attorney Juliana Manzanares, in statements to Coffee Time☕, the radio program of Connect Arizona.
“If you think you still qualify for the program, they are still accepting applications and making appointments to get fingerprints, because we never know what will happen with this program. It is possible that after the pause, which I believe was 14 days, Immigration can start processing these applications again; and if you have already submitted the application, then you just have to wait. Also, for example, the Court says that if people submitted their application before that date, they can process it, but after that they cannot. It should also be noted that this program parole in placeafter you submit it, it may not exist because the judge agrees with the 16 states, including Texas; and that is a risk because they will not return the money you paid. But it is also possible that this program will continue and we want people, if they qualify, to have the chance to obtain this immigration benefit,” added the immigration specialist, who said that she offers free consultations (call 602.500.0000) and that she offers information about this program on Instagram (@julianalaabogada).”
Art: Daniel Robles.
