The administration of US President Donald Trump has announced that it will end the temporary legal status of more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The migrants have been warned to leave the country before their permits and deportation shields are revoked on April 24, according to a notice issued by the federal government.
The 530,000 migrants were brought to the US under a sponsorship process during President Joe Biden’s term, which was designed to open up legal migration pathways. Trump suspended the program as soon as he took office.
It is not clear how many of those migrants have since managed to secure other status that would allow them to stay legally in the US, according to the BBC.
The program was launched in 2022 and initially included citizens of Venezuela before being expanded to other countries. It allowed migrants and their immediate family members to fly to the United States if they had American sponsors and stayed for two years under a temporary immigration status known as parole. The Biden administration argued that the CHNV would help curb illegal crossings at the southern U.S. border and allow for better vetting of those entering the country.
The Department of Homeland Security on Friday, however, criticized the previous administration and said the program had failed to meet its goals.
The 35-page notice in the Federal Register said that some of those in the U.S. under the CHNV could be allowed to stay, and that it would depend on a “case-by-case basis.” Trump is also considering whether to end the temporary legal status of about 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the United States during the conflict with Russia.
The CHNV has helped about 213,000 Haitians enter the United States amid worsening conditions in the Caribbean country. More than 120,700 Venezuelans, 110,900 Cubans and more than 93,000 Nicaraguans were also able to enter the US under the program before Trump blocked it, the BBC recalls.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would end another immigration designation, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), for 500,000 Haitians living in the US in August.
