Leer en español. Klike la a pou w li atik sa a an kreyòl.
The Biden administration's humanitarian parole program for people from crisis-torn countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is welcomed by migrants desperate to escape violence and repression and anxious to start a new life in America. Obtaining permission to gain temporary U.S. residency won’t be easy and will take time.
As WLRN journalists have spent months reporting our series Waiting for America, which examines the parole program first launched a year ago, we have learned about the challenges people face every step of the way.
Haitians especially struggle to get their passports, because of the country's lack of a functioning government, leaving an opening for criminal opportunists. Nicaraguans have a hard time finding sponsors to take financial responsibility for them, since the country's diaspora doesn't have a lot of means. Some Venezuelans who applied when the program was first opened to them last October are still waiting for an answer and don't know when it will come. And once migrants get here, it sometimes takes months for them to secure a work permit.
Here's an overview of the process of applying for the humanitarian parole. (Also, check out our resources guide for immigrants getting settled in South Florida.)
Step 1: Parole applicants must have a passport from their home country.
Step 2: Parole applicants must then secure a willing sponsor in the U.S. — which can be a relative, friend, organization or even a business.
Step 3: The sponsor must then, on behalf of the applicant, submit a Form I-134A to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing financial ability to support the applicant for the 2-year parole period.
Step 4: If the sponsor is accepted, USCIS will then instruct the applicant to set up an online account (myUSCIS) for providing necessary biographical and medical information to determine eligibility for the parole.
Step 5: Applicants who are deemed eligible will then be directed to the CBP One mobile app to enter their information. CBP (Customs and Border Protection) will then decide whether to authorize the applicant’s travel to the U.S. Applicants must provide their own air transportation and must travel within 90 days of the CBP authorization. CBP will then confirm at the point of entry if the applicant is approved for the 2-year parole.
Step 6: Once given entry into the U.S., the parolee is then eligible to apply for a work permit using the Form I-765.
The stakes are high for migrants desperate to escape Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and for President Biden's re-election campaign. In the WLRN News series Waiting for America, we take a deep look at a humanitarian parole program for people from crisis-torn countries in Latin America and the Caribbean — a key Biden administration immigration policy — one year later.
