The Nicaraguan government released 222 former political prisoners this Thursday, including opponents, presidential candidates, social activists, lawyers, journalists, priests and diplomats. All were transferred to Washington, in what is already considered one of the largest operations of this type in which the White House has participated.
Also read: Nicaragua releases 222 political prisoners
The refugees are now in the United States after the Biden administration granted them a “parole” to remain in the country legally, as announced by the Executive through a statement.
“The United States facilitated the transportation of these persons once they are released from Nicaraguan custody to the United States, and they will enjoy a “parole” for humanitarian reasons in the country for a period of two years,” the document states, adding that the US authorities provided them with “medical and legal assistance.”
What is this temporary permit for Nicaraguan refugees about?
This “parole” applies only to the 222 former political prisoners in an extraordinary way since, according to the immigration lawyer consulted by the voice of america Héctor Benítez, is “the Department of Homeland Security who has the discretionary power to grant a document or figure of legal access to the United States.”
“That “parole” From the legal point of view, it is not properly considered an admission for the purposes of other types of immigration procedures, but it is definitely a legal entry,” said the lawyer.
What is the difference with the other permits that are currently granted?
This permit to live and work temporarily in the US differs from that granted by the authorities in other cases to nationals of Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Ukraine.
“For example, there paroles of family reunifications for the cases of Cubans and Haitians. Also the one created for Ukraine, which was later extended to Venezuela or even Nicaragua,” Benítez commented.
In these cases, it is necessary for the sponsor, who can be a natural person or a corporate entity, to demonstrate that they have sufficient economic resources to be able to bring the beneficiary of the parole, he clarified. On these temporary protections, the US government imposes a condition sine qua non in which the sponsor has to demonstrate its ability to financially support the people who potentially enter with those permits.
Who sponsors the former Nicaraguan political prisoners?
In the case of the 222 Nicaraguan refugees, it is not required that there be a sponsor in the US, since it is the government itself that takes care of these people, said the lawyer.
“Basically they are counting on the authorization and legal access by the United States government” since it has been taken into account that many of them “arrive after obviously suffering elements of political persecution, prison, probably torture, etc. Benitez said.
So, with that preamble, “the government is providing them with access to a land where they can propose other types of immigration protections.”
US legislation contemplates this type of measures adopted by the White House. “Through their discretion granted directly by the immigration law, they are being allowed to come to the United States directly without going through the journeys of obtaining a visa at a consulate,” something that in the other cases of parole if it is required, that there is prior approval with the obligation to go to a consular office.
He “parole” allows legal stay in the US for 2 years. What happens next?
The White House reported that the Nicaraguan refugees who have just arrived can be legally in the US for a period of two years in which they will be able to work without restrictions.
“They will have the possibility of applying for work permits and they will have access to social security so that they can be inserted or try to regularize themselves in the American scheme itself,” he added.
And after that period? This does not mean that these people have to leave the US once that time has elapsed, but rather that once established in the country, they can opt for other legal means to obtain permanent residence, Benítez clarified.
The most recurring measure will be political asylum since, according to Benítez, those released have sufficient reasons to demonstrate that they are persecuted in their countries.
“Obviously, since it is a measure taken directly by the US government and taking into account that they come for having been imprisoned for political reasons, the logical thing is that all of them have access to the figure of asylum so that they can permanently regularize their situation. in the country,” added Benítez.
What other ways do they have to establish themselves in the US?
Political asylum is not the only legal solution that the 222 Nicaraguan refugees could have. “There may be exceptions, where some of these former political prisoners may be able to do so through a family petition, perhaps from a son who is already a US citizen or other types of circumstances that make it possible,” the lawyer explains.
Despite this, “those who do not have these conditions obviously have a fairly solid foundation to make a request for asylum.”
How will stateless persons be recognized internationally?
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines a stateless person as “a person who is not considered a national by any State under its law”. In other words, these types of people do not have the recognized nationality of a country, and this has some consequences since, in many cases, they have difficulties enrolling in a school, opening a bank account or getting married.
In Photos | Nicaraguan diaspora awaits the arrival of released political prisoners to the US
The Nicaraguan diaspora met this Thursday at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Virginia, to receive the 222 political prisoners released by the government of Daniel Ortega.
Lawyer Angel Leal, another immigration expert consulted by the VOAadvanced that Nicaraguan refugees will not be considered stateless within the United States and recalls that statelessness “is one of the elements that allows the person to claim asylum from the point of view of human rights, identity, nationality or Homeland”.
“Eventually it will not be a problem for people who choose this route to have asylum, since they will undoubtedly be able to obtain documentation and refugee passports in the future (…) and they will have the option of having their identity again ”, says the lawyer.
What is the refugee passport?
Once people achieve asylum status in the US, they can apply for different travel documents, “and that somehow makes up for, both within the United States and for third countries, the absence or lack of documentation.”
“It has characteristics very similar to those of a passport, although it is a document issued by the US authorities and would allow them to travel throughout the rest of the world, except for Nicaragua,” Benítez concluded.
Declaration of the Court of Appeals of Managua on the deportation of 222 former Nicaraguan political prisoners
Below is the full text of the statement by the presiding magistrate of Criminal Chamber One of the Court of Appeals of Managua, reproduced by the state media The 19 Digital.
“Regarding the deportation of 222 traitors to the homeland”
In compliance with the resolution issued on February 8, 2023, the immediate deportation of 222 sentenced people was ordered for committing acts that undermine the independence, sovereignty, and self-determination of the people; for inciting violence, terrorism and economic destabilization, but also for injuring the supreme interests of the nation established in the legal system, conventions and international human rights treaties, altering peace, security and constitutional order.
The deportees were declared traitors to the Homeland and punished for different serious crimes, and permanently disqualified from exercising public office, on behalf of or at the service of the State of Nicaragua, as well as holding positions of popular election, leaving their citizen rights suspended. perpetually.
At this time, the deportees are already in the United States of America.
Thus we consider the deportation sentence fulfilled.
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