United States: Department of Homeland Security to Terminate Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans
March 21, 2025 (updated March 25, 2025)
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At a glance
- Effective April 24, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is terminating a program that granted parole and employment authorization to qualifying Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals (CHNV).
- CHNV parolees are set to lose their benefits on April 24, 2025, even if their parole document and associated employment authorization document (EAD) have a later expiration date. DHS has decided not to allow these parolees to remain through the expiration of their parole documents.
- Affected parolees may be eligible to remain in the United States under other immigration programs. However, DHS expects parolees to depart if they have no other legal basis to remain in the United States.
- A court challenge concerning the Trump Administration’s actions relating to CHNV and other parolees has been filed.
The issue
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has announced that programs granting humanitarian parole to qualifying Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals will be terminated. Secretary Noem made the announcement in a Federal Register notice that was published on March 25, 2025.
CHNV parolees, including their immediate family members, will lose their program benefits on April 24, 2025, even if their parole document and associated employment authorization document (EAD) have a later expiration date. DHS says that it considered permitting parolees to remain in the United States through the expiration of their parole – as the agency has done in other program terminations – but ultimately decided not to do so.
The DHS announcement affects only the CHNV parole programs. The termination notice does not affect similar programs for Afghan and Ukrainian nationals.
A lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s actions concerning CHNV and certain other parolee groups has been filed. The case is Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights v. Noem, Case No. 1:25-cv-00872 (D.D.C, March 24, 2025).
Background
In January 2023, the Biden Administration announced the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), a humanitarian program for up to 30,000 nationals of the four countries to be paroled into the United States per month, remain for up to two years and receive employment authorization, provided that applicants had a U.S. financial sponsor and passed security screenings. In late 2024, the Biden Administration announced it would not extend the program beyond its period but encouraged beneficiaries to pursue other immigration options.
President Trump announced his intention to terminate the parole program in an executive order issued on January 20, 2025.
What this means for foreign nationals
DHS says that it expects those without other bases for immigration status to depart the United States when their parole is terminated in April, and the agency has indicated that it may initiate enforcement actions against affected individuals before April 24. The agency states that it may use a process known as expedited removal (deportation) against CHNV beneficiaries who do not leave the United States or obtain other lawful status by the termination date. The expedited removal laws permit immigration officers to order the removal of certain classes of foreign nationals without a hearing before an immigration judge. Expedited removal orders may not be appealed, and those removed by means of this process are subject to a five-year bar on reentry to the United States.
CHNV parolees should consult immigration counsel to determine whether they qualify for other U.S. immigration pathways that may enable them to remain in this country.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
