Following Venezuela's July 28 election, President Nicolas Maduro launched a series of violent crackdowns, including door-to-door police raids on the homes of critics and opponents across the country.
President Maduro's “terrorist activities,A friend of mine, a 21-year-old Venezuelan woman, sent me a frantic message: “Will Biden end humanitarian parole?”
She and I met in 2019 when I completed a fellowship with a Latin American children's rights organization supporting her and her sisters. We hit it off immediately and stayed in touch after I returned to the United States.
Last year, as her family desperately sought legal entry into the United States to escape poverty and political violence, I Humanitarian Parole Programs in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela Also known as “I-134A.”
The Biden Administration's Parole Program offers eligible individuals from these countries the opportunity to be considered for temporary travel and work authorization to the United States for emergency humanitarian reasons. A key condition is that applicants must secure a sponsor living in the United States who can demonstrate sufficient financial means for the duration of their parole period.
Although the program is little known outside immigrant communities, it has been unprecedentedly successful in reducing illegal immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border (89 percent). Decreased Just six months after the program began in earnest, there was a flurry of illicit contact with individuals in parole states.
Parole is not a new concept: Republicans and Democrats have used it to get immigrants in since the bill was passed. Immigration Act of 1917And it has proven effective in providing a legal and safe alternative to illegal immigration.
I spent weeks researching the program, consulting with immigration lawyers, contacting dozens of humanitarian organizations, and finally decided to submit sponsorship applications for my friend, his three siblings, and their mother. But after 301 days of waiting for approval, the Biden administration Indefinite suspension of the program.
About 600,000 people have died since Venezuela's fraudulent election Reportedly With more than 100,000 people facing deportation by the end of September and another 930,000 planning to be deported by the end of the year, how can the administration halt one of the most effective tools for curbing illegal immigration at a time when it matters most?
The untimely suspension came following an internal Department of Homeland Security report. Suspicion of fraud The main focus of US resident sponsorship applications is the existence of multiple applications from the same sponsor. However, the I-134A explicitly allows a sponsor to submit applications for multiple individuals. In fact, it requires that family members be submitted separately. This is the guideline I followed for my application.
This justification reveals an inaccurate interpretation by DHS's internal fraud division of the program's application process — an interpretation that DHS inexplicably did not apply to its similar (but less polarizing) parole program. United for UkraineThe law is still in effect and has not been challenged in court.
The humanitarian parole program was a key component of the Biden administration's migration strategy, but the post-election crisis in Venezuela has cut off a vital lifeline, effectively setting the stage for a migration surge whose effects could ripple far beyond the U.S.-Mexico border.
Recent Gallup Poll The poll found that more than half of Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats, and nearly a third of independents see immigration as the nation's most pressing issue. This growing concern has transformed growing immigration pressure from a policy issue into a significant electoral liability for Vice President Harris and the Biden administration as a whole.
The stakes in the election are high, and mishandling immigration policy could affect overall support for the administration and sway key voter groups.
For my friend, the safety and future of her family far outweigh the complexities of immigration policy and the nuances of political debate, but these complexities have serious consequences. The sudden halt to the humanitarian parole program has left families like hers in limbo and could ultimately lead to the very migration surge the program was meant to prevent.
The Administration has an opportunity to correct course and reaffirm its commitment to a humane and effective migration response that touches the lives of those seeking refuge in our country.
Manuela Nibia is a geopolitical consultant for Latin America at the Albright Stonebridge Group.
