More than 72,000 Haitian nationals have already been admitted to the United States under the parole program commonly known as the Biden program
This data was provided to CaribbeanTelevisionNetwork by the spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security through the State Department.
“Since January, more than 72,000 Haitian nationals have been screened and vetted for advance travel authorization to the United States under the new parole procedures,” the DHS spokesman told CTN.
The U.S. official also reported changes to include the family reunification program in the humanitarian parole program. This will enable faster processing of people who have applied for permanent residency.
“We are modernizing the family reunification parole process so that most forms can be completed on a secure online platform, eliminating the burden of travel, time and paperwork, while improving access to participation,” reads the CaribbeanTelevisionNetwork note.
Further adjustments could be made depending on the results of the assessment of the situation in Haiti, in collaboration with the State Department. The DHS spokesperson takes this opportunity to warn Haitian nationals contemplating illegal entry into the United States via the southern border.
“At this time, removals of Haitian nationals encountered at our southern border and repatriations of Haitian nationals encountered at sea continue,” warned the US official. He also announced drastic measures against people arriving in the United States by sea.
“Those intercepted at sea are subject to immediate repatriation, and those in the U.S. without a legal basis to remain are subject to removal. Haitian nationals intercepted at sea are not eligible for family reunification parole or parole for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan nationals (CHNV). They remain subject to immediate repatriation and will not be admitted to the United States.”
While attention is focused on the parole program, the U.S. administration quietly continues to deport thousands of Haitian citizens illegally in the United States. This approach is being criticized by several immigrant rights organizations, who are calling on the Biden administration to take the situation in Haiti into account before repatriating compatriots seeking to flee armed gang violence in their home country.
These criticisms are nevertheless rejected by the US government. “We are monitoring the situation in Haiti and coordinating closely with the State Department and international partners. This administration has made the largest expansion of legal pathways in decades, including parole processes for Haitian nationals and their family members,” responded the DHS spokesperson.
Since the implementation of the humanitarian parole program, Joe Biden’s administration claims to be seeing a considerable drop in attempts to enter the United States illegally across the U.S.-Mexico border. However, this drop could be short-lived if Southern District of Texas Judge Drew B. Tipton, declares the program illegitimate.
A hearing is scheduled for this Thursday in Corpus Christi, Texas, where representatives of the 20 Republican states that have sued the program will present their arguments against Joe Biden’s new migration policy.
An unfavorable decision could slow or even end the parole program.
However, Biden’s administration doesn’t seem to be worried. In the event of defeat in the first instance, he will appeal and even go all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, said DHS’s Blass Nunez Neto in an interview with CaribbeanTelevisionNetwork several months ago.