The Department of Homeland Security is pausing a migrant sponsorship program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans due to fraud concerns among sponsors.
The policy was introduced to Venezuelans in October of 2022 and the other countries in January of 2023.
The Parole Program was set up to discourage illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico southern border.
The Department of Homeland Security has temporarily suspended its mass-parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans due to concerns about widespread fraud.
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“When they use the word fraud, they’re talking about the financial sponsors and I think what they’re noticing is that there are certain people, or maybe one person sponsoring or saying they will be a financial sponsor for a lot people and financially that’s maybe not tenable,” Tammy Lin, Immigration Attorney with USD School of Law said.
The policy allows 30,000 people from these four countries to fly legally into the U.S. each month if sponsors agree to support them financially for up to two years.
Up until June of this year, nearly 500,000 people from the four countries have flown into the U.S. since the program began in 2022, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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DHS said there haven’t been security concerns identified with the nearly 500,000 people who have been admitted.
The concern seems to be with how many people financial sponsors agree to support.
“It sounds like maybe they’re seeing a pattern where they’re maybe seeing one or two people that have maybe several folks that they’re trying to get here on the parole program and they’re re-evaluating probably how they’re going to process those kinds of cases,” Lin said.
NBC 7 spoke to a woman from Venezuela, but has lived in the U.S. for nearly 25 years. She asked that we conceal her identity for safety reasons.
She told us she’s declined to be a sponsor because she understands the financial responsibility that comes with it.
“Someone asked me the favor, if I could sponsor that person. I explained for me, that is not possible,” she said. “If I’m going to sponsor someone, I’m supposed to be responsible for that person who comes to this country and I’m going to be following and finding how the person is doing, how they engage, how they immerse.”
Applications for the Parole Program are still being accepted, but they are not being approved.
DHS has not said when or if the program will resume.
