What Exactly Is in Biden’s Border Plan?
And why are immigration-enforcement advocates unsatisfied?
By Elizabeth Jacobs on January 16, 2023
As the Center for Immigration Studies has recently reported, the Biden administration announced on January 5, 2023, its new strategy to address the historic crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border. Here are the quick facts about what’s in the plan, why it falls short, and what the U.S. government can do today to stop this madness.
1. Creation of Three New Parole Programs
First, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expanding its use of humanitarian parole by creating new parole programs for Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan migrants. DHS said it modeled these programs off the parole programs it created in 2022 to allow Venezuelans and Ukrainians to enter and work in the United States without obtaining a lawful immigration status.
Under these programs, DHS will parole “up to” an additional 30,000 aliens per month (or 360,000 per year) into the United States without explicit authorization from Congress. Aliens paroled into the United States under these programs will be automatically eligible to apply for work authorization and can stay in the United States for up to two years. DHS also warned that it will return to Mexico up to 30,000 nationals each month from these countries who circumvent this process and attempt to enter the United States without authorization. DHS will, generally, process all others in expedited removal proceedings (explained below) or under the Title 42 public health order.
DHS has not provided any information regarding what happens after two years passes or whether this type of parole can be extended. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that an alien whose parole expires will meet the Biden administration’s enforcement priorities without the existence of other aggravating circumstances. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas explicitly stated in his 2021 enforcement guidelines that “the fact that [an alien] is removable ... should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”
https://cis.org/Jacobs/What-Exactly-Bidens-Border-Plan
