Twenty days were enough since President Joe Biden put into effect the expansion of a humanitarian parole for migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti, so that irregular entries of nationals of these countries -as well as Venezuelans- through the southern border of the United States would fall by 97%.
This is a comparison with the previous month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported.
“These expanded border enforcement measures are working,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement Wednesday.
The preliminary count up to the current January 24 indicates that the authorities’ encounters with migrants from these four countries on the southern border fell from a week-long average of 3,367 daily to just 115 this Tuesday.
On December 5, President Biden announced a humanitarian parole for Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans at a rate of 30,000 monthly seats between the three nations. That same parole already had been established on October 12, 2022 for Venezuelan nationals.
Now, the number of encounters between Venezuelans and border authorities, the DHS specifies, fell from around 1,100 per day to just 100, taking into account only the week before the application of the new measures.
A new sponsorship system has also been arranged for refugees fleeing countries in conflict situations. Along with this, the authorities have increased security measures at the border.
Hundreds of migrants -mainly from Cuba and Haiti- who arrive in boats along the Florida coast, have been returned in recent weeks.
The measures are a response by the Biden administration to the incessant arrival of immigrants through the southern border, which reached record numbers compared to previous decades.
Republicans have come out, from state power to Congress, blaming the Democratic president for an “open borders” policy. The White House has denied these allegations, blaming Republicans for delaying approval of a budget that would provide more resources for secure the borders.
On Tuesday it was announced lawsuit imposed by twenty states in the US against the Biden administration for the implementation of the parole.
Renewal of TPS for Haitians
This same Wednesday, the DHS announced the start of the registration process for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, for 18 more months, from February 4 to August 3, 2023.
With the measure, at least 107,000 Haitians who currently benefit from TPS can renew it. It is estimated that another 105,000 make their new application.
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