Over 500,000 Immigrants Lose Legal Status in US

President Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the most extensive deportation effort in U.S. history, focusing primarily on immigration from Latin America.

The decision impacts approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who entered the U.S. through a program introduced in October 2022 by then-President Joe Biden and later expanded in early 2023.

According to the order, published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), those affected will lose their legal protections 30 days after the directive appears in the Federal Register, which is expected on Tuesday. This means participants in the program “must depart the United States” by April 24 unless they secure a different immigration status that permits them to stay.

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Welcome.US, an organization that assists refugees and asylum seekers, urged individuals impacted by the decision to seek legal counsel “immediately.”

The initiative, known as the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program, was introduced in January 2023, allowing up to 30,000 migrants per month from these nations to enter the U.S. for a two-year period. These countries have faced significant human rights challenges.

Biden had promoted the program as a “safe and humane” alternative to ease congestion at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, DHS underscored Friday that the program was never meant to be permanent.

“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the agency stated in its order.

Last week, Trump invoked a rarely used wartime law to deport more than 200 suspected members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, a country that has agreed to incarcerate migrants and even U.S. citizens at a reduced cost.