The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) data shows that hundreds of thousands of immigrants have entered the United States through the controversial parole program of the Biden administration, with the vast majority entering through airports in Florida.
According to data obtained by the House Homeland Security Committee and provided to Fox News by the Department of Homeland Security from January to August 2023, approximately 200,000 immigrants flew to the United States through this program, landing in over 45 cities, with 80% (161,562 people) arriving in four cities in Florida: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa Bay.
The policy was first announced in October 2022 targeting Venezuelans, allowing a limited number of Venezuelans to fly or travel directly to the United States as long as they did not enter illegally, had a sponsor in the US, and passed certain biometric and resume checks.
In January 2023, the US government announced an expansion of the program to include Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans, allowing up to 30,000 people per month to enter the United States. The CHNV (abbreviation for the above four countries) program allows immigrants to obtain work permits and a two-year residency permit in the US. The announcement of the program also expanded the scope of deportations under Section 42, including nationals of these countries.
During these eight months, a large influx of immigrants arrived in 15 US cities:
1) Miami, Florida: 91,821 people
2) Fort Lauderdale, Florida: 60,461 people
3) New York City, New York: 14,827 people
4) Houston, Texas: 7,923 people
5) Orlando, Florida: 6,043 people
6) Los Angeles, California: 3,271 people
7) Tampa, Florida: 3,237 people
8) Dallas, Texas: 2,256 people
9) San Francisco, California: 2,052 people
10) Atlanta, Georgia: 1,796 people
11) Newark, New Jersey: 1,498 people
12) Washington, D.C.: 1,472 people
13) Chicago, Illinois: 496 people
14) Las Vegas, Nevada: 483 people
15) Austin, Texas: 171 people
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently stated that the parole program is a “safe and orderly way to arrive in the United States” and “reduces the number of these nationalities (illegal immigrants).”
According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), by the end of February 2024, over 400,000 nationals from CHNV countries arrived in the United States through the parole program.
Homeland Security also revealed in response to a subpoena from the House Homeland Security Committee that as of October 2023, approximately 1.6 million applicants are waiting for approval from Homeland Security to fly to the US through the parole program.
“By definition, all individuals entering the US through parole are deemed inadmissible, including those paroled under the CHNV program,” Homeland Security stated in response to the subpoena.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green believes that the program exceeds the parole authority granted by Congress. This authority is to be used on a case-by-case basis in situations “based on urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public interest.”
He mentioned in a statement to Fox News the House’s efforts to impeach Mayorkas for this. The House impeached him, but the Senate has yet to hold a trial on the impeachment articles.
“After issuing a subpoena and the House voting on impeachment, especially given the complete failure of the Senate to fulfill its duty to hold a trial – the committee will not rest until this administration takes responsibility for its open-borders agenda and its destructive impact on our homeland security,” he said in the statement.
Green’s opposition to the program has been echoed in lawsuits filed by over twenty states, seeking to block the program, calling it “equivalent to creating a new visa program, allowing hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals without legitimate reasons to enter the United States.”
The lawsuit was dismissed by a district judge, but states have filed appeals. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s government has repeatedly expressed confidence in ultimately winning the lawsuit.
Homeland Security states that individuals entering the United States through the program will undergo and pass “rigorous security checks” and other qualification standards, calling these procedures a part of the government’s strategy that has “prevented hundreds of thousands of irregular immigrants.”