Representative Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican congresswoman from South Florida, has called on the Trump administration to protect certain migrants from deportation.
Her request primarily focuses on individuals from Latin America and the Caribbean who entered the U.S. legally under the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program and have no criminal records.
Salazar addressed a letter to Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Benjamine Huffman, emphasizing the need to protect these migrants until their legal cases are resolved. “I strongly urge that all Cubans admitted under the CHNV program and eligible for or with pending applications under the Cuban Adjustment Act be protected from deportation until their cases are fully resolved,” Salazar wrote, according to The Hill.
The Biden administration implemented the CHNV program (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) in January 2023, allowing migrants from these nations to legally stay in the U.S. for two years.
According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over 530,000 individuals had benefited from this program by the end of 2024. However, President Trump revoked the initiative on his first day in office, fulfilling his campaign promise to tighten immigration enforcement and initiate what he described as the largest deportation effort in U.S. history.
Despite her criticisms of the program’s initial implementation, Salazar argued that migrants already enrolled should be allowed to remain while their cases are adjudicated. “While President Biden created this program on dubious legal grounds and without a plan for the future of those involved, they were nonetheless enrolled in programs offered to them,” she noted in her letter, as reported by The Hill.
The Trump administration expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) powers to deport migrants, including those who arrived through Biden’s humanitarian parole initiative. ICE has reported 593 arrests under these new guidelines.
Salazar’s district, home to many Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants, is directly impacted by these shifts in immigration policy, which she described as critical for her constituents. Additionally, several Florida business leaders have begun voicing concerns over a drastic decrease in the labor force due to Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
Salazar’s appeal highlights the delicate balance between enforcing immigration laws and addressing humanitarian concerns, particularly for individuals who entered legally and adhered to the program’s guidelines.