The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that effective immediately it would reverse the Biden-era humanitarian parole program that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to live and work temporarily in the United States.
The terminated program, known as the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) parole process, granted two-year parole to migrants fleeing economic collapse, political instability and violence in their home countries. However, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the program, which Biden launched in January 2023 to reduce illegal border crossings, had failed to enhance security while straining federal and local resources, according to the notice released on the Federal Register.
With the program’s termination, the Department of Homeland Security estimates that 532,000 beneficiaries will lose legal status and face deportation unless they secure another immigration pathway or unless the DHS Secretary “makes an individual determination to the contrary.”
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For the beneficiaries, the CHNV parole process provided a pathway to safety. In the U.S., 10,970 Cubans, 213,150 Haitians, 96,270 Nicaraguans and 120,760 Venezuelans were “vetted and authorized for travel” under the program as of December 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Families Left in Limbo
The decision directly impacts Brooklyn resident Jackson Belizaire, a 36-year-old Haitian immigrant who moved to Chile six years ago while his pregnant wife remained in Haiti. Thanks to the CHNV parole program, he was able to reunite with his wife Nancy Noel in the United States and see his 5-year-old son for the first time.
The couple hoped to build a stable life in the U.S., with Belizaire earning a security guard certification and Noel enrolling in a home health aide program. Noel moved to New York last year, with Belizaire arriving soon after. But neither was able to secure a job. They are currently living with their relatives in Brooklyn and their son started school in September.
With the termination of the CHNV program, their lives have been left in limbo and their hopes for a legal pathway toward citizenship upended, they said. Belizaire is unsure if he can return to Chile, and going back to Haiti is not an option, he says, as gangs control 90% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
“Frankly, I am not ready to return,” Noel said. “I don’t have the means to buy a ticket, and the country is so insecure that I don’t see how I could go back now.”
Belizaire added: “We hope this decision has a positive outcome.”
“Betrayal of Immigrants”
Meanwhile, immigrant rights groups have denounced the termination of the CHNV program.
“The Trump administration’s decision to revoke the CNHV humanitarian parole program is a devastating betrayal of the immigrants who were legally permitted to seek safety and build their lives in the United States,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, in a statement. “Now, with this abrupt reversal, the people who have worked, paid taxes, and built lives here are in legal limbo, given just one month to find a path forward.”
The Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), an advocacy group for Haitian and other Caribbean immigrants, issued a rebuke of the decision, characterizing it as “premeditated cruelty” driven by anti-Blackness and xenophobia.
“Let’s be clear: this is a war on poor, Black and Brown people who dared to seek safety,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “These families have followed the rules. Now they are being told they’re no longer welcome because Trump wants to rally his base with racist fear-mongering.”
The HBA emphasized that the CHNV program provided a legal pathway for migrants fleeing political violence, economic collapse, and authoritarian rule. But, the group warned that revoking migrants’ statuses would not only lead to mass deportations but also further destabilize already fragile nations.
“We call on Democrats and Republicans to publicly denounce this move, defend the CHNV program, and take legislative action to protect those at risk,” the organization stated. “Silence is complicity.”
A Sudden End of a Temporary Protection
CHNV allowed migrants with U.S. sponsors to fly directly to American airports for case-by-case parole approval.
Current parolees have 30 days from March 25 to either leave the U.S. or find another legal basis to stay, such as asylum or marriage-based visas. Those who remain risk deportation.
“These programs did not serve a significant public benefit,” the DHS notice stated, adding that they were inconsistent with President Trump’s executive orders to “secure our borders.”
The Biden administration launched the CHNV parole process to stem the flow of immigrants coming from the southern border. Under the program, applicants applied via the CBP One app, and those approved could travel to the U.S. to stay and work for two years. In their notice Tuesday, the Federal Register acknowledged that there was a reduction in encounters of CHNV nationals between ports of entry from FY 2022 through FY 2024.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has shut down the CBP One app and launched the CBP Home app, which requires undocumented immigrants to “notify the U.S. Government of their intent to depart the United States.”
