This expansion initiative is based on the profitable results derived from previous actions. According to US officials, there is a “significant drop in illegal border crossings” today. This is thanks to a combination of more legal avenues and the swift expulsion of those who don’t use those avenues.” The humanitarian probation experience for Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans has been particularly successful. A plan that grants 30,000 monthly slots for those who have a sponsor in the United States.
The Joe Biden administration officially launched a new humanitarian parole program on family reunification this Monday. This plan will benefit a larger number of people who wish to apply for permission to enter the United States.
Extension of probation on humanitarian grounds for entry into the United States
The initiative, officially announced since late April, provides for an extension that is intended to benefit nationals from Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Requirements include having relatives with U.S. citizen status or lawful permanent residency in the northern country.
After probation, these people then receive a work permit for a maximum of three years. While they are awaiting a response to their application for permanent residence in the United States, they have the opportunity to support themselves. As the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) states in a press release.
The US government believes it is going in the right direction
“The Department has demonstrated that the expansion of legal, safe, and orderly new avenues for immigration into the United States, along with strict enforcement, is an effective mechanism for reducing irregular and risky migration into the United States,” the minister stressed last Friday for National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
The approach is broadly consistent with the Joe Biden administration’s immigration policy, which has sought to find ways to facilitate orderly immigration and discourage illegal border crossings, particularly along the border with Mexico.
In fact, as we recall, the expansion of the parole program is part of the package of measures announced by DHS and the State Department in late April to further reduce irregular immigration and expand legal routes of entry into the country. Then the current Democratic government assured that the plan would be coordinated with “the governments of Mexico, Canada, Spain, Colombia and Guatemala.”
What is the new humanitarian probation period for family reunification? and when does the program start?
The new immigration initiative officially started this Monday, July 10th. The plan is in line with the Biden administration’s pledge to take in up to 100,000 Central American migrants under this program. Specifically, it offers citizens who meet the necessary requirements to enter the United States from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras the opportunity to obtain a work permit in the host country.
Who can apply for parole on humanitarian grounds?
A primary requirement for participation in the program is direct family ties to the United States, either children or adult siblings of US citizens or children and spouses of US permanent residents.
The process begins when these relatives formalize a visa application on behalf of their relative in Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras or Guatemala.
What happens next?
Once the applications are approved, US citizens or permanent residents of the country can proceed to send their family members an invitation to travel to the United States. This ensures that reunification with their loved ones is much quicker than the regular visa system, where some applicants have waited years or even decades.
Based on a DHS spokesman, the first invitations are expected to be formalized later this month. And it states that if approved, the dependents of the US citizens and permanent residents who made the applications could enter the country on humanitarian parole, allowing them to legally work in the United States . As expected, these individuals could then obtain permanent residency and then begin the naturalization process.