The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday the immediate termination of all categorical “Family Reunification Parole” programs for foreign nationals from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, and their immediate family members.
The termination affects hundreds of thousands of immigrants — including tens of thousands in South Florida — currently in the United States under the programs.
The administration called the move a necessary step to end what it called the "abuse of humanitarian parole" and a return to the original intent of Congress.
"This administration is ending the abuse of humanitarian parole which allowed poorly vetted aliens to circumvent the traditional parole process," DHS officials said in a statement. "Parole was never intended to be used in this way, and DHS is returning parole to a case-by-case basis as intended by Congress."
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The DHS said that the termination of the programs is a return to "common-sense policies and a return to America First."
The action is a dramatic shift in policy from the previous Biden administration.
In 2023, the then Biden administration sought to make it easier for foreign nationals to be reunited with family members already in the United States. It allowed individuals from specific Latin American and Caribbean countries — with approved family-based petitions — to be permitted to move into the United States.
Security, fraud concerns
DHS officials said a primary motive for ending the programs was a concern over national security and fraud.
DHS said that the "desire to reunite families does not overcome the government’s responsibility to prevent fraud and abuse and to uphold national security and public safety."
The agency claimed that the programs posed an "unacceptable level of risk to the United States" due to security gaps.
"The FRP programs had security gaps caused by insufficient vetting that malicious and fraudulent actors could exploit to enter the United States," said DHS.
DHS also said it would individually notify each foreign national that they are "terminating their parole period and revoking their employment authorization."
Read the Federal Register Notice for more information about the termination of the FRP programs here.
