The upcoming end of the Biden-era Humanitarian Parole program will affect remittances sent to Nicaragua. Lapresa It has been reported Monday.
The “Humanitarian Parole” program was an initiative implemented in 2023 by the administration of former US President Joe Biden, where up to 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans have requested entry into the United States through “sponsors,” giving them “two years” of legal stay and work permits. An extensive investigation launched last year by a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement Found evidence of ramp-deferred fraud and widespread abuse in programs.
Report Published Over the weekend, President Donald Trump's administration announced in April that it would end legal status for the 532,000 immigrants who entered the United States through the parole program in April. Over 93,000 I'm a Nicaraguan citizen.
LapresaCiting local economists, he said in a report Monday that the end of the parole program would have a negative impact on the amount of remittances sent by US Nicaraguans to Nicaragua, one of the “major lifelines” that will maintain the administration of Communist Party Dictator Daniel Otega.
said Juan Sebastian Chamorro, an economist in Nicaragua. Lapresa The “hard to estimate” the exact sum of remittances affected after parole protections have been revoked, claims that since entering the US through the parole program, there have been “many” people who have changed their legal status and are potentially able to remain in the US.
“There's no numbers about that,” Chamorro said. “What we can say is that remittances will definitely decrease.”
Economist Enrique Saenz explained Lapresa It also includes those affected by the end of the parole program, “we have to consider those who are threatened because they are in the United States in an irregular way.” He estimated that at least 60,000 would remain without deportation protection in April.
In recent years, dictator Ortega's rebels and ongoing brutal crackdowns persecution Of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans were forced to flee their country. The departure of Nicaraguans has resulted in a dramatic surge in remittances sent from overseas by immigrants.
Report Published In early March, it was shown that Nicaragua received a $448.2 million remittance from overseas in January 2025. In 2024, Central American nation received record-breaking $5,243 billion According to statistics, remittances representing more than 27% of GDP, World Bank In December. According to financial institutions, Nicaragua is the world's third-largest remittance-dependent economy, with only Tajikistan and Tonga being ahead of it.
Saenz said Lapresa The decline in remittances as a result of the end of the parole program will not only affect Nicaragua at the macroeconomic level, but also affect families who rely on remittances from US relatives.
“Thousands of families rely on remittances from the US. Almost all of the remittances are destined for consumption,” Saenz said he estimates that small and medium-sized businesses' activities will be affected as well.
“Ten people affected, that's 10 families who suffer. If there are 1,000 people, there are 10,000 people, there are 50,000 people, there are 50,000 people, there are 50,000 families, there are 50,000 people,” he added.
Another Nicaraguan economist I spoke to Lapresa Under the anonymity state, he said the end of the parole programme could deepen the country's employment crisis and create greater social pressure on Ortega's administration.
“The military of people who are forced to be deported or returned to Nicaragua is not easily found employment, deepening both unemployment and unemployment,” he explained.
Lapresa He pointed out that the Ortega administration allowed the Ortega government to experience reduced labor market pressures as immigrants left Nicaragua, with fewer citizens seeking employment. This effectively reduced official government unemployment statistics. 2023, Expert Group I explained it That Ortega benefited economically and politically by promoting the massive migration of Nicaragians as remittances led to increased local economic activity and increased tax revenues from sales taxes and other surcharges, which “sedges” social unrest.
“Now, when more Nicaraguans return, they are expected to start looking for jobs. Lapresa It was predicted. “In addition, in recent years, remittances have been used for consumption and have served as a maintenance barrier to increasing poverty.
that's right Estimated Since 2018, more than 850,000 Nicaragians have left their country. Ortega began to intensify the persecution of the opposition that year, the year after a wave of peaceful anti-communist protests. Of the approximately 95,000 Nicaraguans who left Nicaragua in 2024, around 58,000 entered the United States as beneficiaries of the “humanitarian parole” program. Experts estimated in January that 80,000 Nicaragians were expected to leave the country in 2025.
Manuel Orozco, an immigration expert in inter-US dialogue, told the Nicaraguan newspaper Confidence In January, he predicted that Nicaragua's migration would be dropped in 2025.
“With many people already leaving and with accommodation, we expect migration to decrease by 2025 for demographic reasons. [by the population]living in a repressive system and remittance,” he said.
Christian K. Calzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
