The recent decision by the Biden administration to discontinue parole for over half a million migrants, who entered the United States under a contentious migrant flight program, has sparked a wave of surprise.
However, conservative voices are cautioning that this move will have minimal impact.
"This move is yet another optics-driven smokescreen from the Biden-Harris administration," stated House Homeland Security (DHS) Committee Chairman Mark Green, according to Fox News.
The DHS confirmed last week that the administration will not extend the two-year parole status for migrants who entered the U.S. via the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program. This program, initiated in 2022 and expanded in early 2023, grants migrants travel authorization and parole for two years.
The program permits 30,000 migrants each month, and to date, nearly 530,000 migrants have entered the U.S. under this program. However, the administration has declared that these paroles will not be renewed.
"A grant of parole under these processes was for a temporary period of up to two years. This two-year period was intended to enable individuals to seek humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible, and to work and contribute to the United States," a DHS spokesperson informed Fox News Digital.
Those who have not been granted an immigration benefit during their two-year parole period "will need to depart the United States prior to the expiration of their authorized parole period or may be placed in removal proceedings after the period of parole expires," the spokesperson added.
While some immigration activists have expressed disappointment over this decision, conservatives have pointed out that Haitians and Venezuelans may still be eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which protects from deportation and was renewed by the Biden administration. Venezuelans and Haitians who arrived before the TPS renewals are eligible. Cubans can apply for green card status via the Cuban Adjustment Act, while Nicaraguans may be able to apply for asylum.
"There are numerous other ways these inadmissible aliens could beand likely will beallowed to stay, including through applying for asylum or Temporary Protected Status. Even if they dont, however, given ICE's low enforcement rates under this administration, most simply will not be priorities for removal," Green stated.
Gene Hamilton, vice president and general counsel of America First Legal, an organization that collaborated with over a dozen states to sue the Biden administration over the program, also expressed skepticism about the decision's impact. He noted that the administration has no plans to terminate the program itself, meaning more migrants will continue to arrive. He labeled it as "political theater."
"They're going to use TPS to allow them to stay here for as long as TPS is designated. And they're not saying that they're going to end this program in terms of bringing new people in and, of course, what that all amounts to is that none of these folks are going to be going home," he told Fox News Digital.
Hamilton suggested that the administration is attempting to "save face" on border-related issues and speculated that they may be apprehensive about the ongoing legal battle over the program, given the extensive use of parole by the administration.
"If they get a poor decision from their perspective about the authority to bring in these aliens into the United States under parole, they're going to be in a world of hurt. Because for them the abuse of the parole authority is really the end all, be all across the spectrum," he stated.
Conservatives have long contended that the use of parole, which Congress limits to a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, is being misused.
"If they're viewed as bringing people in and then renewing it indefinitely, it undermines the integrity of their arguments that this is only on a temporary basis," Hamilton argued.
Hamilton also pointed out that even conservative administrations face difficulties in deporting migrants due to some countries' refusal to accept their nationals and legal limits on TPS. As a result, he doubts that a significant number of these migrants will be deported under a Biden or Harris administration.
"The chances are effectively zero," he stated.
This decision comes as the Biden administration claims that its recent policies at the southern border are effective. Officials have highlighted a significant decrease in illegal encounters at the border since a presidential proclamation limiting entries in June. They report that since June 5, they have removed or returned more than 131,000 individuals to over 140 countries, including operating more than 400 international repatriation flights.
"Total removals and returns over the past year exceed removals and returns in any fiscal year since 2010 and a majority of all southwest border encounters during the past three fiscal years resulted in a removal, return, or expulsion," DHS announced in a release last month.
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