US Ends Legal Status for Hundreds of Thousands of Immigrants, Orders Deportation
The United States government announced Friday that it will terminate the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, giving them a short window to leave the country.
This move is part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to reduce immigration, particularly from Latin American countries.
The order affects approximately 532,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who had come to the US under a program introduced by President Joe Biden in October 2022 and expanded in January 2023. These immigrants, granted temporary legal protection, will lose their status 30 days after the Department of Homeland Security’s order is officially published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, which means they must depart the country by April 24 unless they secure another immigration status that allows them to remain.
Welcome.US, a group supporting people seeking refuge in the US, has urged those affected to seek legal advice immediately from immigration lawyers.
The affected program, the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), was designed to allow entry to the US for up to 30,000 migrants per month from these countries, which have faced serious human rights issues. The program was presented by Biden as a safer and more humane alternative to help alleviate pressure on the US-Mexico border.
However, the Department of Homeland Security emphasized that the program was temporary. “Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not a basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the agency stated in its announcement.
This development comes on the heels of President Trump invoking wartime legislation to send more than 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang back to El Salvador, where the government has agreed to imprison migrants at a discounted rate, raising further concerns about the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement.
