The administration of Donald Trump has announced plans to revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela currently residing in the United States, as stated in a notice published in the Federal Register on Friday. This action marks a significant escalation of his immigration enforcement measures.
The change will take effect on 24 April.
This decision prematurely ends a two-year “parole” granted to these immigrants under former President Joe Biden, which permitted their entry into the U.S. by air if they had American sponsors.
Taking office as a Republican, Trump immediately began intensifying immigration enforcement, including efforts to deport a record number of individuals living in the U.S. illegally. He has contended that the entry parole programs initiated by his Democratic predecessor exceeded federal legal boundaries and called for their discontinuation in an executive order dated 20 January.
On 6 March, Trump indicated that he would soon make a final decision regarding the potential revocation of parole status for approximately 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the U.S. amidst the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This discussion was prompted by a Reuters report suggesting that his administration intended to eliminate this status for Ukrainians as early as April.
The Biden administration initiated a parole entry program for Venezuelans in 2022 and subsequently expanded it in 2023 to include Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans as it faced significant levels of illegal immigration from these regions. Diplomatic relations between these four nations and the United States have been notably strained.
These new legal pathways emerged as Biden sought to reduce illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Trump administration’s move to revoke legal status for half a million migrants could leave many at risk of deportation should they decide to remain in the United States. It is currently uncertain how many individuals who entered on parole have since secured other forms of protection or legal status.
