The Biden administration’s decision to not renew parole for more than half a million migrants who came under a controversial migrant flight program was greeted with surprise by some when it was announced, but conservatives are warning it will not make much of a difference.
“This move is yet another optics-driven smokescreen from the Biden-Harris administration,” House Homeland Security (DHS) Committee Chairman Mark Green said in a statement.
The DHS confirmed last week that the administration will not extend the two-year parole status for migrants who came in via the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV) program. The program, established in 2022 and expanded in early 2023, allows migrants to receive travel authorization and parole for two years.
BIDEN ADMIN WON’T EXTEND PAROLE FOR 500,000+ MIGRANTS IN US VIA CONTROVERSIAL FLIGHT PROGRAM
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas listens as President Biden speaks about an executive order in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
It allows 30,000 in each month, and so far nearly 530,000 migrants have flown in under the program. However, the administration said those paroles will not be renewed.
“As initially stated in the Federal Register notices, 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 told Fox News Digital.
“Those who do not have pending immigration benefits or 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,” they said.
While the decision was…
