MADRID, Spain.- The Biden administration is in the final phase of analysis to reactivate the humanitarian parole program, according to several American media outlets, such as NBC News and The Washington TimesThe program, which allows up to 30,000 nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to travel to the United States each month under certain conditions, was suspended on August 2 following the revelation of an internal report exposing significant levels of fraud.
NBC News reported this Wednesday that the reactivation of the program could happen “as soon as this week,” even though thousands of suspicious applications still need to be reviewed. According to two sources cited by the outlet, the Biden administration “is eager to restart the program” because its suspension is “deterring migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela from crossing the border illegally.”
The temporary suspension of the program came after an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report was released, which revealed large amounts of fraud in applications. The report, reviewed by NBC Newsrevealed that nearly 101,000 sponsorship applications for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Ukraine were submitted by only 3,218 sponsors, raising suspicions about legitimacy of many of them.
Additionally, thousands of applications were found to use duplicate street addresses, Internet Protocol addresses or phone numbers, pointing to potential organized fraud. For example, nearly 600 applications were flagged because they all appeared to use the address of the same retail store in Orlando, Florida. Instances were also identified where Social Security numbers of deceased individuals were used.
Since the program was implemented in January 2023, more than 100,000 Cubans have benefited from humanitarian parole, most of whom have arrived in the United States and received parole under this process. The figures also show that at least 205,026 Haitians, 93,325 Nicaraguans, and 118,706 Venezuelans have been authorized to travel to the United States in the same period.
The possibility that the program will be reactivated this week, as suggested by sources from NBC Newsbrings a ray of hope for those hoping to reunite with their loved ones in the United States and escape the precarious conditions in their countries.
