One of the primary ways in which the Biden administration has increased the amount of so-called “lawful” immigration into the U.S. is through the parole program. Heretofore used only in special cases where “urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit” exists, the parole system has been corrupted by Biden’s DHS to include whole nationalities, enabling qualifying nationalities to step to the front of the line of foreigners waiting to immigrate to America.
Biden’s first essay into “humanitarian parole” began in August 2021 after the disastrous retreat from Afghanistan, when his people first realized that the tens of thousands of Afghanis they wanted to admit did not qualify as “refugees” or for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV). No problem, said the White House, just admit them anyway under the catchall category of parolee. Since then, at least 77,000 Afghans have been admitted under the program.
Finding the policy useful for mass admittances–something for which it was never intended to be used–the DHS has subsequently used it liberally. First, Venezuelans and Ukrainians were added to the list of potential parolees. Then Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans were added, followed last week by natives of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia. These last national categories are estimated by the DHS to qualify for admittance up to 73,500 aliens (32,600 Salvadorans; 17,400 Colombians; 12,800 Guatemalans; and 10,700 Hondurans), based on family reunification.
Typically, parolees must wait for green cards before legally working (a restriction that is widely ignored by parolees and employers alike), but are permitted to wait within the U.S., instead of in their home country or a third nation. Parole is officially limited to three years, after which if the individual has not yet been awarded a green card, he may be deported. Parolees may request an extension, which theoretically can be denied, but what is the likelihood of denial and deportation?
In the event a parolee is denied an additional grant of parole, it also remains unlikely that they will meet the current administration’s enforcement priorities. It is more likely that DHS will allow aliens to have their parole extended, much like DHS’s treatment of Temporary Protected Status, which has proven to be anything but temporary.
In other words, don’t hold your breath waiting for the first parolee to be sent back.
For more, see CIS.org.