The Department of Homeland Security says nationals from four countries that were once part of a Biden-era immigration program should self-deport.
A rule crafted by the Biden administration allowed a fixed monthly number of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to fly to the U.S. with the help of a sponsor. They could stay and work here for two years under what’s called humanitarian parole.
The Trump administration moved to end that program, and the Supreme Court sided with that decision earlier this month. The high court issued a ruling that overturned a lower court order pausing the program’s halt, and allowed the cancellation to move forward.
Now, DHS is telling hundreds of thousands of people who entered the U.S. under that process to self -deport.
“Many of the families that we are helping, yes they did have that parole, but now they’re in the asylum seeking process,” said Tucson aid worker Dora Rodriguez.
Rodriguez says her group Salvavision has helped several Venezuelan families in Tucson, many of whom are in the U.S. on another Biden-era program called CBP One — which had asylum seekers apply for a fixed number of daily appointments available at some border crossings and pursue an asylum claim in court.
She says many of those families are still awaiting court cases, and until then, they plan to remain in the U.S.
Still, the latest directive is causing more uncertainty.
“It’s so very confusing for these people, because first of all, you know, they’re not attorneys, they don’t know all these changes. All they know is that status has been canceled,” she said.
More than half a million people were able to enter the U.S. on the humanitarian parole program.
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Grijalva, local leaders and a few dozen protesters gathered outside the gated-off Marana Prison complex – an old state prison sold to the for-profit Management & Training Corporation last year for $15 million. -
On Tuesday, the person in charge of overseeing kitchen staff for more than a dozen sports bars raided in January by immigration authorities pleaded guilty in federal court. -
Adelita Grijalva has been regularly meeting with tribal leaders from southern Arizona — the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Tohono O’odham Nation and Gila River Indian Community — and they’re all sharing the same thing, telling KJZZ: “DHS must consult with tribes. They’re not doing it now. This administration doesn’t honor sovereignty.’” -
A Day 1 executive order enacted by President Donald Trump froze all refugee admissions and the funding attached to them. -
The report, from Yale Law School’s Justice Collaboratory and the Center for Policing Equity, looks at how cities, states and counties can respond to federal actions they don’t approve of.
