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In the past two years, nearly half a million immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have arrived in the United States to live and work legally. They are covered by a program known as “CHNV”, named after the nationality of the beneficiaries. The CHNV program allows people in the United States to petition to sponsor potential beneficiaries. If approved, he will be granted parole for two years and will be allowed to apply for a work permit upon arrival.
But since the program was created for Venezuela in the fall of 2022 (and expanded to three other countries in January 2023), the future of the program, and by extension its beneficiaries, has been uncertain.
But this month, the Biden administration clarified that those in the U.S. under CHNV cannot use the program to stay in the U.S. for more than two years. As with the first Venezuelan beneficiaries, once the two-year parole subsidy begins to expire, the government will not issue a new parole subsidy.
This doesn’t mean the US will kick everyone out. Most people here under CHNV are eligible to apply for other forms of legal protection. Those most affected by the Biden administration’s decision are Nicaraguans, who are absolutely ineligible for another legal status and must decide next January whether to leave the United States or remain as illegal immigrants. There is a possibility that it will not happen.
Why did the Biden administration have to announce the future of CHNV now?
The CHNV program briefly gained public attention earlier this year when the federal government suspended the program for several weeks to investigate fraud allegations. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet provided details about what the fraud concerns were or how they have been alleviated, but claims new safety measures have been put in place and suspended the suspension. After that, processing of the application resumed.
However, the decision not to grant re-parole under CHNV did not necessarily have anything to do with concerns of fraud or the upcoming U.S. election. The program’s history required the Biden administration to make and announce the decision this month.
On paper, people who come to the United States under the CHNV are allowed to stay for two years. This is the validity period of the parole grant. This means that the first 400 or so Venezuelans admitted to the United States under this program (arriving in October 2022) could begin losing parole protection in October 2024. meaning – in the unlikely event that they have not yet moved to another legal status.
But other groups granted parole by the Biden administration, including Ukrainians fleeing war and Afghans fleeing the Taliban after the U.S. withdrawal, can apply for parole renewal (technically, re-parole). Recognized. You will be able to stay in the US for several more years before it expires.
This gives these programs something akin to temporary protected status. Temporary protected status is only in effect for a few years at a time, but under most presidents it continues to be extended so that beneficiaries are protected indefinitely. For example, a student visa is valid for only a few years.
The Biden administration has not stated that CHNV’s parole is renewable. However, he did not explicitly say otherwise. As a result, beneficiaries did not really know whether they would ultimately be allowed to remain in the United States under CHNV.
By telling them that their parole cannot be renewed under CHNV, the Biden administration is trying to solve that problem for them.
But Venezuelans at risk of losing parole this month have other options — in fact, many of them are likely to have a different legal status and are no longer eligible for parole subsidies. I’m not relying on it. And most other beneficiaries have options, too. Therefore, this announcement means that for them, rather than having to start making plans to return to their home countries, they have to start completing other applications.
Options for CHNV beneficiaries
Whether a CHNV beneficiary can remain in the United States depends on both their nationality and when they arrived in the United States.
Cubans are allowed to apply for green cards after staying in the United States for one year under the Cuba Adjustment Act. Therefore, Cubans eligible for green cards did not have to rely on CHNV parole for two full years in any case. As a result, few Cubans will be affected by the lack of parole as long as they apply for green cards.
Haitians have been re-designated to Temporary Protected Status for 18 months as of June 2024. This means that the 172,820 Haitians who had arrived in the U.S. under CHNV by then will be allowed to apply for TPS and will likely remain until at least February 2026. Haitians arriving after that date under CHNV are currently unable to apply for TPS, but will be able to apply once TPS is redesignated for Haiti in February 2026. They will have a few months to start losing their parole in June 2026, two years after their arrival.
The Venezuelan national was placed on Temporary Protected Status for 18 months, effective July 31, 2023. This means that 53,580 Venezuelans who had arrived in the United States under CHNV at that time could apply for TPS and stay until April 2025. Those who arrived after that date under CHNV are currently unable to apply for TPS, but will be able to do so once TPS is redesignated to Venezuela in April 2025. They will have a few months to start losing their parole in August 2025, two years after their arrival.
Nicaraguans do not have these options. In theory, people should be allowed to apply for asylum if they believe they are eligible. However, nothing in CHNV’s application asked them to prove they were eligible for asylum, and there was little reason to believe that the Nicaraguan beneficiaries were particularly likely to be eligible, and the immigration court ruled that the application Only 40% of people are granted asylum. As a result, Nicaraguans are the most vulnerable to this decision. In January 2025, hundreds of Nicaraguans will begin losing parole and must decide whether to return to the United States or remain as illegal immigrants. This is exactly the fate the CHNV program was designed to avoid them.
Field: Cuba, Haiti
