Trump Terminates CHNV

The Trump administration recently terminated the CHNV program (formally known as Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans), one of the many programs the Biden-Harris administration designed to facilitate “lawful” access for inadmissible aliens to the United States, ostensibly in order to deter illegal entries. 

CHNV allowed U.S.-based persons to sponsor Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans and their family members (of any nationality) to come here on parole. Sponsors could even be foreign nationals (of any nationality) who have “temporary authorization” to remain in the United States, such as on parole.¹ Parolees are eligible for employment authorization and Social Security numbers.

Immigration parole is not a visa, it is a mere “official permission to enter and remain temporarily in the United States” and does not constitute a “formal admission under the U.S. immigration system.” Per U.S. law, parole should only be granted on a case-by-case basis “for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” About 530,000 individuals benefited from the CHNV program and were granted parole by the Biden-Harris administration. (For more on the CHNV program, see here.)

The legality of the former administration’s expansive use of parole has been widely questioned.² What was equally, if not especially puzzling, was the transfer of power to parolees (who, supposedly, are here on a provisional, short-term basis) by allowing them to sponsor new parolees to join them in the United States, to live and work here, under that same illusory, “temporary”, and highly ambiguous status.

What Significant Public Benefit?

The Biden-Harris administration’s proclaimed rationale for CHNV as a “significant public benefit” was as follows: it would enhance border security by reducing illegal immigration between U.S. ports of entry (POEs), minimize the impact of illegal immigration on U.S. border communities, improve vetting, discourage dangerous journeys, and fulfill foreign policy goals to manage migration from the region.

Upon review, the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration concluded that the CHNV “deterrent” approach did not result in a sufficient improvement in border security, while exacerbating “challenges associated with interior enforcement of the immigration laws.”

The Trump administration has determined that CHNV parole programs do not serve a significant public benefit, are not needed to reduce levels of illegal immigration, did not really mitigate the effects of illegal immigration on the domestic front, and are inconsistent with the this administration’s foreign policy objectives.

While there was a reduction in encounters of CHNV nationals between POEs from FY 2022 through FY 2024 (from 600,000 in FY 2022 to 416,000 in FY 2023 and 183,000 in FY 2024) when the CHNV parole programs were in effect, encounters at POEs remained high and overall migration of CHNV nationals to the United States increased between October 12, 2022, and January 22, 2025. The significant increase in encounters of CHNV nationals at southwest border POEs (26,250 in FY 2022 to 168,010 in FY 2023 and 352,790 in FY 2024) was likely due to the use of the CBP One mobile application to schedule appointments there.

(The CHNV program was for people of those four countries to fly directly into the United States, using authorization provided via the CBP One app. Somewhat confusingly, the Biden administration established a separate program, which has been dubbed the CBP One app port interview scheme, inadmissible aliens of any nationality, including the four covered by CHNV, to schedule appointments via CBP One to receive parole at certain southwest border land ports of entry).

What Next?

The termination of CHNV means that parole and the parole-based employment authorizations are to be revoked. Humanitarian parole for CHNV individuals will expire on April 24, 2025; beneficiaries need to depart the United States on or before that date. They should report their departure after they leave via the renamed CBP Home mobile app (formerly CBP One, the app they used to enter originally).

DHS intends to prioritize for removal those who have not applied for an adjustment of status (such as asylum, Temporary Protected Status, or T or U nonimmigrant status). CHNV parolees account for some 75,000 affirmative asylum applications.

CHNV nationals who have obtained a lawful immigration status or other basis that allows them to stay are not required to leave U.S. soil.

Sponsors Held Accountable?

The Trump administration does not suggest that sponsors could be held accountable for the non-compliance of their “protégés”. But that could be an option. The U.S. government could choose to look for these sponsors and inquire about the whereabouts of these parolees. After all, they were the ones who selected and pledged to support (not just financially) CHNV nationals during their stay here.

That said, CHNV was modeled on the “Uniting for Ukraine” program designed by the same administration following the Russian invasion to offer Ukrainians a chance to come to the United States via parole. These programs are presented as “private”, non-taxpayer-funded sponsorships, except that they could, in fact, benefit from taxpayer money.

These “U.S.-based supporters”, as mentioned before, could themselves be here on parole or other “temporary” conditional statuses. How many inadmissible CHNV individuals given parole were sponsored by individuals with no legal immigration status either under the Biden-Harris administration?

And will some of these supporters lose their parole as well and be made to leave?