The United States government has revoked the legal status of approximately 532,000 immigrants, primarily from Latin America, and ordered them to leave the country within weeks.
The affected migrants—Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans—entered the U.S. under a humanitarian scheme introduced in October 2022 by former President Joe Biden and expanded in January 2023. However, in a move aligned with his strict immigration policies, President Donald Trump has terminated the programme, fulfilling his pledge to implement the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the affected individuals will lose their legal protections 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, March 26, 2025. This means they must leave the U.S. by April 24 unless they secure another legal immigration status.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” the Department of Homeland Security stated.
The CHNV programme, which granted temporary residence to up to 30,000 migrants per month, was initially designed to provide a “safe and humane” alternative to dangerous border crossings. Biden had promoted it as a way to ease pressure at the U.S.-Mexico border, but the Trump administration has repeatedly criticized the policy.
Following the announcement, Welcome.US, a nonprofit that assists refugees, advised affected migrants to immediately seek legal counsel to explore other pathways to remain in the country.
In a further crackdown on immigration, Trump recently invoked rare wartime legislation to deport over 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, which has reportedly offered to imprison migrants and U.S. citizens for a fee.
The decision is expected to have significant humanitarian and political consequences, as it affects hundreds of thousands of families who had sought refuge in the U.S. under the now-defunct programme.
