ExclusiveThe Biden administration has suspended a controversial program that allows tens of thousands of migrants from four countries to fly or travel directly to the U.S. after an internal report was circulated that found significant fraud in the program.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox News Digital that “out of an abundance of caution” it had suspended the issuance of advance travel authorizations for the program, which allows up to 30,000 nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) to travel legally to the US under a government parole system if they meet certain conditions.
A congressional source told Fox News Digital that the program was suspended in mid-July after an internal report found significant irregularities in applicants’ sponsorship applications. The Department of Homeland Security said it was pausing the program while it reviewed the sponsorship applications.
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December 19, 2023: A migrant plane departs from Texas for Chicago. (Governor Greg Abbott)
“The Department of Homeland Security has implemented screening mechanisms to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in the immigration process. The Department of Homeland Security takes abuse of the process very seriously,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said. “Where fraud is identified, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigates and litigates cases in immigration court and files criminal charges with the Department of Justice.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Department of Homeland Security is suspending the issuance of advance travel authorizations to new beneficiaries while it reviews sponsors’ applications. Homeland Security plans to resume processing applications as soon as possible, with appropriate safeguards in place,” the agency said.
The program was initially announced for Venezuelans in October 2022, allowing a limited number of them to fly or travel directly to the U.S. as long as they were not in the country illegally, had a sponsor in the U.S., and passed certain biometric and background checks. The program itself does not arrange flights, and migrants are responsible for their own travel.
In January 2023, the administration announced that the program would be expanded to include Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans, allowing up to 30,000 people to enter the U.S. each month. The program allows immigrants to receive work authorization and a two-year residence permit in the U.S., and it was also announced that Title 42 deportation targets would be expanded to include these nationalities.
A congressional source told Fox News Digital that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stopped issuing travel permits to Venezuelans on July 6, and to the remaining three nationalities on July 18.
According to the internal report, people who applied for the program had their Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers included on their forms, in some cases used hundreds of times.
Parts Reports Data provided to Fox News Digital by the conservative immigration group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), found that 100,948 applications were filled out by 3,218 consecutive sponsors (people whose numbers appear on 20 or more applications).
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The photo shows Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with migrants at the southern border. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The leak also found that 24 of the 1,000 most frequently used numbers belonged to deceased people. Meanwhile, 100 addresses were used between 124 and 739 times on more than 19,000 forms. These addresses included warehouses. The leak also found that one sponsor’s phone number was submitted on more than 2,000 forms, and 2,839 forms had a non-existent sponsor’s postcode.
The report was prepared by the Department of Homeland Security’s Fraud Detection and National Security Agency to help the Department of Homeland Security rapidly respond to fraud in immigration benefit programs. Sponsors must pass security and background checks and demonstrate that they have the financial resources to support the individuals they sponsor.
DHS stressed to Fox News Digital that CHNV recipients are “thoroughly screened and vetted prior to their arrival in the United States.”
“The multi-layered screening and vetting process for advance travel authorization is separate from the screening of sponsors who are based in the United States,” the spokesperson said. “The Department of Homeland Security has not identified any concerns regarding the screening and vetting of sponsors.”
The freeze is likely to raise further questions from Republican lawmakers, who argue the Biden administration’s use of parole is an abuse of power given to it by Congress, which is limited to only being used for urgent humanitarian reasons or in cases of significant public interest.
“This shows that the administration is willing to do whatever it takes to admit as many illegal immigrants as possible, even at the risk of putting public safety at risk,” FAIR spokesperson Ira Mellman told Fox News Digital.
The administration is also allowing 1,450 migrants to enter the U.S. through ports of entry each day using the CBP One app. The administration recently announced “parole” for spouses of illegal immigrants.
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently said the program is a “safe and orderly means of travel to the United States” and that it has “led to a decline in the numbers of these nationalities.”
“This is a key component of our efforts to address the unprecedented levels of migration across our hemisphere, and other countries around the world are looking to this as a model for addressing the challenges of rising irregular migration that they are also experiencing.” Mayorkas said.
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DHS said earlier this year that as of October 2023, there were approximately 1.6 million applicants waiting for DHS approval to travel to the U.S. through the parole program.
A lawsuit challenging the program was dismissed earlier this year, but the Republican states that filed the suit have said they intend to appeal.
