CBS News (“U.S. to revoke legal status of more than a half-million migrants, urges them to self deport“):
The Trump administration will be revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Latin American and Haitian migrants welcomed into the U.S. under a Biden-era sponsorship process, urging them to self-deport or face arrest and removal by deportation agents.
The termination of their work permits and deportation protections under an immigration authority known as parole will take effect in late April, 30 days after March 25, according to a notice posted by the federal government.
The move will affect immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who flew to the U.S. under a Biden administration program, known as CHNV, that was designed to reduce illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border by giving would-be migrants legal migration avenues.
A total of 532,000 migrants entered the U.S. under that policy, which was paused soon after President Trump took office, though it’s unclear how many have been able to secure another status that will allow them to stay in the country legally.
CBS News first reported in early February that the Trump administration was planning to revoke the legal status of individuals who entered the U.S. under the CHNV process.
The Department of Homeland Security said it will seek the arrest and deportation of those subject to the policy change if they fail to depart the U.S. in the next 30 days. Officials are urging migrants to use the newly repurposed CBP Home smartphone app to register for self-deportation.
But DHS said it retains the authority to target migrants who arrived under this program before the 30-day period lapses. Officials say those prioritized for arrest will include migrants who have failed to apply for another immigration benefit like asylum or a green card.
In a statement, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said the migrants allowed into the U.S. under the CHNV process were “loosely vetted,” and argued the program undercut American workers.
“The termination of the CHNV parole programs, and the termination of parole for those who exploited it, is a return to common-sense policies, a return to public safety, and a return to America First,” McLaughlin added.
Reuters (“Trump revokes legal status for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans“) adds:
Trump, a Republican, took steps to ramp up immigration enforcement after taking office, including a push to deport record numbers of migrants in the U.S. illegally. He has argued that the legal entry parole programs launched under his Democratic predecessor overstepped the boundaries of federal law and called for their termination in a January 20 executive order.
Trump said on March 6 that he would decide “very soon” whether to strip the parole status from some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the U.S. during the conflict with Russia. Trump’s remarks came in response to a Reuters report that said his administration planned to revoke the status for Ukrainians as soon as April.
Biden launched a parole entry program for Venezuelans in 2022 and expanded it to Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans in 2023 as his administration grappled with high levels of illegal immigration from those nationalities. Diplomatic and political relations between the four countries and the United States have been strained.
The new legal pathways came as Biden tried to clamp down on illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
I haven’t studied the CHNV program enough to have a strong opinion on it, but 530,000 immigrants—especially immigrants that are neither eligible for asylum nor targeted for highly desirable skills—in such a short period is a lot at a time when public sentiment against such immigration is negative. Further, if we’re going to let in massive numbers of economic migrants to compete against low-skill American workers, it’s not obvious why we wouldn’t prioritize those from our neighbor and close trading partner, Mexico.
That said, whatever the merits of the program’s continuance, these 530,000 who are already here were invited in by the duly-elected President of the United States. So far as I’m aware, there has been no court decision that it exceeded his authority. Given that, upending their lives on short notice and deporting them seems like a cruel policy.
Stripping status from Ukrainians who fled a war zone is just sad. While they’re not entitled to asylum under international law, sheltering them is the right thing to do.
In related news, we have eliminated due process for immigration cases.
WaPo (“DHS shuts down internal watchdog agencies that advocated for immigrants“):
The Department of Homeland Security is eradicating three internal watchdog agencies that investigated complaints and advocated for immigrants, calling the watchdogs “roadblocks” to immigration enforcement, a spokeswoman said Friday.
The department has ordered a “reduction in force” for the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman and the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, essentially eliminating them, according to DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin. She alleged that the three offices “have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS’s mission.”
Taken together, the agencies had about 300 employees, a small share of the estimated 260,000 workers at the DHS. They handled thousands of complaints about the immigration system, including detention conditions, the care of migrant children, and delays in processing green-card and citizenship applications. Their reports informed House and Senate oversight committees, and provided information to immigrants facing deportation in U.S. immigration courts who are not entitled to public defenders.
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties’ responsibility extended beyond immigration to the more than 20 agencies inside the DHS, investigating their responses to natural disasters, cyberthreats and terrorism — all issues that are far more likely to affect U.S. citizens. In one case, for instance, the office investigated a federal agent who mistreated a traveler in a wheelchair.
The dismantling of this oversight comes as the Trump administration has embraced aggressive and unconventional tactics to dramatically increase immigration enforcement to meet the president’s goal of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. Since taking office, Trump officials have unilaterally expanded the government’s power to expel migrants without a court hearing, forcibly removed hundreds of immigrants to jails in El Salvador and the Guantánamo Bay naval station in Cuba, and conscripted other agencies to arrest immigrants despite their inexperience with immigration laws.
“It’s a big blow,” said John Roth, who served as DHS inspector general from 2014 until he retired in late 2017, the first year of Trump’s first term. “They are the first line of defense when it comes to oversight.”
Analysts say the three shuttered agencies are among the few remaining independent checks on a department that not only enforces immigration laws but also serves the American public by preventing terrorist attacks, mass shootings and other calamities. The closures are expected to face legal challenges, current and former employees said.
NYT (“Trump Shuts Down 3 Watchdog Agencies Overseeing Immigration Crackdown”) adds:
Mr. Trump has been trying to root out oversight mechanisms across government agencies, but targeting D.H.S. was notable given the lack of transparency over the crackdown.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the decision was meant to “streamline oversight to remove roadblocks to enforcement.”
“These offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining D.H.S.’s mission,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations.”
Critics say it’s an attempt to sidestep any scrutiny.
“It’s a demonstration of their total contempt for any checks on their power,” said Deborah Fleischaker, a former civil rights office worker and chief of staff of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden administration. She said the office “endeavored to make the D.H.S. mission work with respect for civil rights, civil liberties and privacy.”
“This is a clear message that those things do not matter to this administration,” she added.
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and the two ombudsman offices, which were responsible for investigating allegations from migrants, their families and the public, have looked into Mr. Trump’s immigration policies over the years.
One such investigation during Mr. Trump’s first term investigated his use of the Remain in Mexico policy, which forced migrants to wait in Mexico until their court appearance.
The final report in 2021 found that the administration had placed unaccompanied children and people with mental health and other medical issues into the program. By the time the report was released, Mr. Trump was out of office and the program had been rescinded.
While there are reasonable debates to be had at where to balance efficiency and due process, the complete elimination of the latter would seem to push the limits.
