U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) recently joined several congressional colleagues in demanding the Biden administration end the parole program granting Haitians and other migrants access to the United States.
In recent months, residents across Alabama have appealed to state and local leaders, expressing concern over the influx of specifically Haitian migrants coming into their communities.
The migrants initially showed up without explanation. State lawmakers and those in the executive branch claimed not to have been informed about the influx, where the migrants came from and who sent them.
Subsequent information revealed many of the migrants are in the U.S. through the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) program, which provides "safe and orderly pathways to the United States" for tens of thousands of nationals from the applicable countries. According to federal data, over half a million are in the country through the CHNV program.
In the letter led by U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), 26 lawmakers called on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to “end the unlawful, fraud-filled CHNV program.”
“We write to express our concerns with the Biden-Harris Administration’s unlawful mass parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV),” the letter reads. “While the United States faces an unprecedented crisis, created by the Biden-Harris Administration, at our southern border, nearly 530,000 inadmissible aliens have entered the U.S. through the CHNV program since January 2023 alone. This decision has placed significant financial stress and burdens on communities across the United States…”
The letter references another letter sent by 25 Republican governors to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, which Gov. Kay Ivey led.
“According to 25 governors from across our nation, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have failed to communicate arrival times, duration of residency, legal status, and locations of CHNV parolees while also creating ‘considerable confusion and alarm among local officials and the general public,’” the letter continues. “These states, as well as other communities from across our nation, have been burdened with significant costs and have been neglected by the Biden-Harris Administration due to this unlawful immigration program.”
It concludes, “Under federal law, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) grants the President authority to parole aliens, but only temporarily and only on a case-by-case basis for significant public benefit or urgent humanitarian reasons. The CHNV program clearly exceeds the parole authority authorized by Congress.”
“We call on the administration to end the unlawful, fraud-filled CHNV program and curtail TPS and other immigration relief provided to aliens paroled through CHNV. Without doing so, the Biden-Harris Administration’s immigration policies will continue to place significant burdens on communities across our nation.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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