A Friday notice from the Department of Homeland Security announced the termination of “categorical parole programs for inadmissible aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and their immediate family members,” otherwise known as the CHNV program.
Despite the large number of entries under the program, an internal investigation found it was rife with fraud, prompting its temporary freezing last year.
The program was put on the chopping block on President Donald Trump’s first day in office, with Section 7 of the Jan. 20 Executive Order 14165 directing the DHS to “[t]erminate all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in [the President’s] Executive Orders, including the program known as the ‘Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.’”
The order canceling the CHNV program will take effect on April 24. Those who entered through the program were urged to self-deport as soon as possible or face deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The Washington Examiner reached out to DHS for further comment.
Friday’s notice undercut the Biden administration’s arguments in favor of the CHNV program, created under former DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s leadership.
The Trump administration argued, “These programs do not serve a significant public benefit, are not necessary to reduce levels of illegal immigration, did not sufficiently mitigate the domestic effects of illegal immigration, are not serving their intended purposes, and are inconsistent with the Administration’s foreign policy goals.”
The CHNV program allowed migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to bypass normal immigration protocols. Despite the Biden administration’s insistence that all applicants had been screened and vetted, a report from the DHS Office of Inspector General found migrant applicants had used repetitive and false information to secure admission into the country.
DHS RESUMES FRAUD-RIDDEN CHNV PROGRAM WITH NEW MIGRANT VETTING PROTOCOLS
It was frozen in July 2024 but resumed the following month.
A report by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nonprofit group that calls for restricting immigration levels, said the Social Security numbers of deceased sponsors in the U.S. and fake phone numbers were used on applications.