The temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans will be revoked as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing migration crackdown.
Effective from 24 April, the revocation will cut short a two-year “parole” period granted to migrants from these four nations, under a program that allowed them to fly into the US if they had sponsors in the country.
President Joe Biden launched a parole program for Venezuelans in 2022 and then extended it to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans the following year. The move was ostensibly aimed at reducing levels of illegal migration from the four countries.
In a notice that will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security will say that revoking parole status will make it easier to fast-track these immigrants for removal, under a policy known as “expedited removal.”
Expedited removal, which was implemented by President Trump in January, can be applied to certain migrants in the US for two years or less.
At the beginning of March, President Trump also said he would decide “very soon” whether to revoke the parole status of nearly 250,000 Ukrainians who have entered the US as a result of the conflict with Russia. Rumours suggest their status may be changed as early as April.
