The Volokh Conspiracy
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Biden Administration Restarts CHNV Immigration Parole Program for Migrants From Four Latin American Nations
The program should not have been suspended to begin with. The restart, unfortunately, includes some dubious security measures that will make applications more difficult and time-consuming.
Today, the Biden Administration Department of Homeland Security restarted the CHNV (AKA "CNVH") migrant sponsorship program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela:
The Biden administration is reopening an updated version of a migrant sponsorship program it paused abruptly earlier this summer due to concerns about fraud, Department of Homeland Security officials said Thursday.
First set up in late 2022 and expanded in early 2023 as a way to divert migrants away from the U.S.-Mexico border, the initiative allows up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly to the U.S. each month if U.S.-based sponsors successfully apply to support them….
After a weeks-long pause, the Department of Homeland Security is restarting the program with an enhanced screening process for those applying to sponsor migrants under the policy. The government will now require those who wish to sponsor migrants to submit fingerprints for the vetting process. Officials also plan to more closely review the financial and criminal records of would-be sponsors, and increase scrutiny of repeat sponsors….
Sponsors need to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or hold another legal immigration status. The fraud concerns about the program centered around would-be sponsors, not the migrants, who also undergo security vetting before being allowed to book travel to the U.S.
DHS officials said an initial probe into potential fraud within the program found that a majority of cases of concern had a "reasonable explanation," including filing errors. But officials said the review did find some cases involving fraud, including prospective sponsors using fraudulent Social Security numbers. A small number of applicants have been referred to law enforcement for further investigation and potential prosecution, officials said.
It's good that the administration has restarted the program. In a previous post, I explained why it should never have been suspended in the first place; see also this Reason article by Cato Institute immigration policy specialists David Bier and Alex Nowrasteh. The fact that DHS appears to have found only a few cases of fraud by sponsors and none at all by actual migrants, is further evidence that the pause was a mistake.
I worry that the new fingerprinting requirement and other additional vetting will make an already excessively bureaucratic application process more complicated and time-consuming, without much affecting the already-low rate of fraud. DHS should be simplifying the process, not making it more difficult. The administration would also do well to drop the arbitrary 30,000 per month cap for migrants from all four nations combined.
The CHNV program is vital as both a way to help migrants escape horrific oppression and violence (including at the hands of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela's brutal socialist governments), and for reducing disorder at the border. CHNV migrants, like previous migrants from Latin America, also make valuable contributions to our economy.
As noted in my previous post about the pause, I am a sponsor in the Uniting for Ukraine program, which is very similar to CHNV and uses the same forms and procedures (at least up until now); indeed, CHNV is largely based on U4U. I have also advised CHNV sponsors and applicants (on an unpaid basis). I am, therefore, familiar with how the program works, and with the application process.
