So far, about 30,000 Cubans have been authorized to travel to the United States through humanitarian parole. At the same time, illegal entry into the country through the southern border decreased significantly. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recalled that the Biden administration’s initiative, implemented since January, seeks to discourage the flow of irregular immigration. The program issues 30,000 visas each month to applicants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
“Demand for this program is high and already more than 29,000 Cubans have received travel authorization to come to the United States.” So commented Blas Nuñez-Neto, DHS’s undersecretary for border policy and immigration.
The published data on approved people is recorded from January 6 to May 24. In this case, DHS clarified that the grant of travel permits does not refer to the number of Cubans accepted. The latter is a benefit granted after entering the United States.
Changes to Streamline the Process
The public official also noted changes recently announced by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (USCIS) regarding the humanitarian parole program. Nuñez-Neto said the changes would allow for approval to be granted via random combination.
This is a reasonable sort of way to forward requests with the longest waiting time ever. In fact, 1.5 million applications await a response from USCIS. Of that total, 380,000 requests are in favor of Cubans.
The rate of daily requests reaches an average of 12 thousand. However, only about 1,000 cases are processed each day. DHS has also implemented an innovative placement program through the CBP One application. Through this, 1,000 appointments a day are given to appear before immigration officials at the border.
