The Biden administration announced Friday that it would allow temporary legal permits to lapse for immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua, leaving hundreds of thousands of people with no choice but to find other ways to stay in the country. forced to face deportation.
The decision comes nearly two years after the Biden administration launched a program that allows immigrants from those four countries to apply to stay in the U.S. for two years, as long as they have funding and pass background checks.
The program was intended to deter people from sneaking into the country by providing them with a way to enter the United States legally. Currently, the administration said immigrants cannot extend their stay under the program, according to an update on the Department of Homeland Security’s website.
“This two-year period is designed to allow individuals to seek eligibility for humanitarian relief and other immigration benefits, work and contribute to the United States,” department spokeswoman Nary Ketudat said in a statement. “There is,” he said.
New applicants from the four countries will continue to be accepted. A similar program for Afghan and Ukrainian immigrants allowed them to extend their stay.
The changes highlight long-term challenges for a program that never offered a permanent path to remaining in the United States. It also comes amid growing political pressure to cut so-called parole programs, which allow people to enter the country for short periods without visas or green cards.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have come under attack for immigration policies seen as too lax, and the issue is a major weakness for Harris as she heads into the presidential race.
Republican lawmakers have particularly criticized the program as a way to bring immigrants into the United States who would otherwise be ineligible.
Since the program’s inception in fall 2022, hundreds of thousands of people from the four countries have arrived at the moment of crossing the high ground at the southern border.
The impact of Friday’s decision depends on a person’s nationality.
Migrants from Haiti and Venezuela have the opportunity to stay without fear of deportation through the Temporary Protected Status program, which also provides work permits. Venezuelans who arrived before July 2023 will be eligible for TPS, and Haitians who arrived before this summer will also be eligible.
Cuban immigrants have the opportunity to obtain a green card through the Cuba Adjustment Act, a 1966 law that allows certain Cubans to apply for permanent residency while in Cuba.
But the approximately 100,000 migrants arriving from Nicaragua through the program may be in a particularly difficult position.
They do not have a clear path to temporary protection and must obtain other means to remain legally in the country, such as asylum. The decision not to issue another temporary visa could put pressure on Harris to give migrants some protection if she wins in November.
Previously, the Biden administration allowed people from Ukraine and Afghanistan who had been granted temporary admission to the United States to apply for parole again, allowing them to remain in the country with temporary permission to remain in the country.
