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CHNV has been a huge economic success. The Trump administration should abandon its effort to fast track the revocation of humanitarian parole for more than 500,000 people.

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On April 14, 2025, a federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily stopped the Trump administration’s effort to revoke humanitarian parole and related work authorization for more than 500,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who had been paroled into the U.S.1 The Court held that the administration could not revoke parole categorically without providing individual, case-by-case consideration.2 The Trump administration applied to the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of the order. A large body of evidence, including analysis by FWD.us, shows that the CHNV Parole Processes have been hugely successful, providing a safe, orderly, and humane legal process that significantly reduced irregular migration and greatly benefitted the U.S. economy.

“In the CHNV Parole Processes, the U.S. government made an implicit promise—to CHNV recipients, their U.S. sponsors, and the employers who hired them—and it has paid off.”

Introduction

In 2022 and 2023, the Biden administration announced four separate but related immigration policies in response to increased irregular migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (the “CHNV Countries”).3 The policies, known collectively as the “CHNV Parole Processes,” have been a success and a model for safe, orderly, and humane immigration policy. They have helped dramatically reduce unauthorized migration from the CHNV Countries at the southern border by establishing a standardized and predictable process for people to enter and work legally in the U.S for a specified amount of time. They have benefited the American economy at the local, state, and national levels and helped fill critical gaps in the workforce. And they have had a profound impact on the lives of the more than half a million people paroled into the United States as a result (“CHNV recipients”)—including an estimated 100,000 children—as well as the communities and sponsors who welcomed them.4

In the CHNV Parole Processes, the U.S. government made an implicit promise—to CHNV recipients, their U.S. sponsors, and the employers who hired them—and it has paid off. In the more than two years since the announcement of the processes, hundreds of thousands of people have legally entered the U.S., filled job openings, enrolled their children in school, and contributed to American communities. Thousands more employers, from local mom-and-pop shops to multinational corporations, have hired and trained CHNV recipients to fill crucial roles in their companies, delivering the products and services on which Americans rely.5 CHNV recipients are now working in manufacturing, construction, leisure and hospitality, healthcare, and other fields across the country.

Allowing the current administration to revoke over 500,000 ongoing parole grants on a categorical basis before their expiration would not only cause untold chaos and hardships in the lives of CHNV recipients, but would also create shockwaves across our economy and society.

The CHNV Parole Processes are a model of safe, orderly, and humane immigration policy

The humanitarian parole authority currently laid out in 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A) has its origins in the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1952. Today, the law gives the Department of Homeland Security the power to parole individuals into the country for “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.”6 The use of humanitarian parole by presidential administrations to respond to world events has a long and important history. The Eisenhower administration was the first to use the authority to parole approximately 30,000 Hungarian refugees into the U.S.7 Since then, it has been used to assist orphans who survived the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Cuban medical professionals, and family members of U.S. military service members.8 As numerous former executive branch officials have argued, parole processes "have afforded the executive the crucial ability to provide alternatives to dangerous and potentially unmanageable migration patterns and advance broad geopolitical aims.”9 

The CHNV Parole Processes were modeled after similar recent efforts, including Uniting for Ukraine, which provided a parole pathway for Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion in 2022,10 and Operation Allies Welcome, a process designed to protect individuals and families forced to flee from Afghanistan in the midst of the Taliban’s takeover.11 These precursor processes proved incredibly successful at reducing irregular migration and encounters along the southern border and at providing speedy access to humanitarian protections in the midst of a crisis. Uniting for Ukraine was notable, in particular, for its requirement that parolees secure U.S. sponsors who would provide housing and financial support as a proactive measure to reduce burdens on receiving communities.

Using the parole authority laid out in 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A), the Biden administration established the CHNV Parole Processes as a response to the significant increase in the number of encounters at the southern border with people fleeing the ongoing crises in the CHNV Countries. The processes allowed up to 30,000 people from the CHNV Countries to be paroled into the U.S. every month.12

As with Uniting for Ukraine, CHNV recipients were required to secure a U.S. financial sponsor before traveling to the U.S. from their home countries. Recipients were also required to pay for their own air travel to the U.S. Upon arrival, they were considered case by case and subjected to national security and public safety vetting. Only then were individuals approved and paroled into the country by an immigration officer. This process provided the government with control to vet individuals and manage the flow of arrivals, while also allowing individuals to travel safely to the U.S., rather than making the dangerous journey through the Darién Gap and Mexico to the southern U.S. border and attempting to cross illegally.

The grant of parole provided protections from removal for a specified temporary period of time, typically up to two years, to allow individuals to pursue an asylum claim or other legal immigration pathways. During this period they would also be able to apply for work authorization. Recipients were informed “that those ‘who are not granted asylum or other immigration benefits will need to leave the United States at the expiration of their authorized period of parole or will generally be placed in removal proceedings after the period of parole expires.’”13

Over the course of the CHNV Parole Processes, the U.S. government granted parole to at least 531,000 people from the CHNV Countries: 110,000 Cubans, 211,000 Haitians, 93,000 Nicaraguans, and 117,000 Venezuelans.14 CHNV recipients now live in at least 27 states and likely live with thousands of  U.S. citizen family members, including those who sponsored their entry into the U.S.15

The CHNV Parole Processes dramatically reduced encounters with migrants from CHNV countries at the southern border and established a safe and orderly alternative to unauthorized migration

The Biden administration established the first parole process for Venezuelans as “an effort to address the increasing number of Venezuelan nationals arriving at the southern border of the United States by ‘coupl[ing] a meaningful incentive to seek a lawful, safe and orderly means of traveling to the United States with the imposition of consequences for those who seek to enter irregularly.’”16 The administration subsequently adopted the same approach for people from Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua who were seeking to enter the U.S. to apply for relief. 

It worked. By providing a lawful process to manage the mass migration triggered by the crises in the CHNV Countries, the CHNV Parole Processes successfully reduced pressure on the U.S. southern border. Moreover, the more orderly process meant that recipients avoided transnational smuggling networks and instead entered the U.S. legally with the support of an American sponsor already in place.17

Following the implementation of the CHNV Parole Processes, unauthorized migration from the CHNV Countries plummeted. Within a month, unauthorized border crossings from these countries dropped from an average of 1,231 per day in January 2023 to just 46 per day by the end of February 2023—a 98% decline.18 In all, encounters of individuals from these four countries dropped by 62% after the CHNV Processes were put into place.19 Even in its attempt to terminate the CHNV Parole Processes, the Trump administration acknowledged that “there was a reduction in encounters of CHNV nationals between [ports of entry] from FY 2022 through FY 2024.”20 The District Court for the Southern District of Texas made a similar finding in its decision determining that Texas did not have standing to challenge the processes.

“People paroled into the U.S. pursuant to the processes brought with them an array of talents and skills—and, with work authorization, they have put them to use, contributing to communities and the U.S. economy as a whole.”

The CHNV processes have been a boon to the American economy

The CHNV Parole Processes have been a tremendous benefit to the American economy, helping bring stability and curbing inflation.22 People paroled into the U.S. pursuant to the processes brought with them an array of talents and skills—and, with work authorization, they have put them to use, contributing to communities and the U.S. economy as a whole. 

Relying on American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, FWD.us estimates that as of September 30, 2024, there were 240,000 adult CHNV recipients active in the labor force, including: 40,000 in manufacturing; 30,000 in construction; 30,000 in leisure and hospitality; and 30,000 recipients in health service.23 Moreover, results of a 2023 survey of CHNV recipients show that the overwhelming majority of adult CHNV recipients were working or planning to work once they received legal work authorization.24 The survey also shows that CHNV recipients aspire to contribute to our country: More than half (54%) of respondents already had a good command of the English language, while nearly all (96%) had at least a high school diploma and the majority (63%) had some college education.25 The majority (87%) of respondents also voiced aspirations to pursue U.S. citizenship at some point, and, as they looked to their future, many envisioned applying their skills as healthcare workers, engineers, or educators.26

Crucially, upon arriving in the U.S., CHNV recipients went to work in industries with persistent workforce challenges. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. faced record labor shortages, far beyond the number of available U.S. workers, that contributed to punishing inflation.27 FWD.us’s research suggests that CHNV recipients played a crucial role in meeting that labor demand, ensuring that supply chains were reestablished, the country’s food supply was secured, the tourism industry kept up with demand, and more homes were built.28 As officials from various cities across the country wrote in an amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court: “At a time when the pandemic strained our national healthcare system, newly arrived immigrants—particularly those admitted through humanitarian parole—helped address this challenge.”29

In turn, CHNV recipients contribute an estimated $5.5 billion to the U.S. economy each year through their spending and are largely self-sufficient, according to FWD.us estimates.30 The 2023 survey found that only 21% of respondents indicated that they had relied on family for financial support, and only 3% relied on organizations or local government for assistance.31

A quick review of the named plaintiffs challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke over 500,000 ongoing CHNV parole grants illustrates how CHNV recipients have contributed to the economy. They are working at companies that install vinyl on cars for advertising, and companies that make tractor trailers, personal protective equipment, and marble panels.32 They are house cleaners and welders.33 One completed college computer science studies in Nicaragua before coming to the U.S. while another has a degree in Christian Education.34 One recipient worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and now works as an English as a Second Language teacher and has obtained a license as a life insurance agent.35 At least one plaintiff has children who now attend elementary school in the U.S.36 

Revoking work authorization for CHNV recipients en masse would wreak havoc on the economy. Indeed, major labor unions described the “three weeks of chaos and confusion among the workers they represent and the employers with whom they bargain” that followed the administration’s attempt to terminate the CHNV Parole Processes.37

Abruptly stripping removal protections and work authorization from CHNV recipients—all at once and without individualized consideration—would scramble the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who made major life decisions based on the U.S. government's promises

Dismantling the CHNV Parole Processes midstream would hurt our economy, undermine the investments of employers who hired CHNV recipients in reliance on the government’s implicit promises, and upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of families, including many American citizens. CHNV recipients entered the U.S. legally, following a process laid out by the U.S. government and on the promise that they would have a specific period of time to pursue an immigration claim. In the meantime, the majority of adult CHNV recipients were granted authorization to work legally during the period of their parole. On the basis of these promises, hundreds of thousands of people have entered the workforce and countless employers have hired and trained workers.

The “reliance interests” at the center of the CHNV Parole Processes, however, go beyond economic considerations. The CHNV Parole Processes provide an orderly and legal way for people to apply to enter the U.S., and, in so doing, help them avoid a dangerous and potentially life-threatening journey. A Venezuelan lawyer and mother of a seven year old daughter and an infant son tells of how the deteriorating conditions in Venezuela led her to consider making the dangerous trek through the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama with her children before the CHNV Parole Processes were announced: “We saw the news and – oof! – I could breathe again, knowing I wouldn’t have to take my children to the U.S. on foot.”38 

The CHNV Parole Processes also allowed many individuals from CHNV Countries to reunite with family and loved ones in the U.S. Indeed, respondents in the 2023 survey were most likely to be sponsored by family members (74%), followed by friends (18%), and other individuals (8%) through an organization.39 According to respondents, top reasons these individuals chose to be parole sponsors include to reunite with and support family members.40 The majority (75%) of sponsors have lived in the U.S. for ten years or longer.41 Moveover, according to FWD.us estimates, CHNV recipients live with more than 50,000 U.S. citizen family members, including family members who sponsored them and new U.S. citizen children born after their arrival.42 The faith-community has also played a significant role in welcoming CHNV recipients.43

A news article from the Louisville Courier Journal in Kentucky tells the story of sisters from Haiti reuniting after years of separation: Jazmin came to the U.S. as a young woman and was adopted by an American family; now, a decade and a half later, as her home country of Haiti is plagued by chaos with surging numbers of kidnappings, rapes, and murders, Jazmin hoped to sponsor her sisters to seek refuge in the U.S.44 Another news story tells of a Cuban journalist reuniting with his brother and sister-in-law at the Miami airport, one of many families reconnected through a much safer journey than those undertaken by Cuban refugees in years past.45 

Each of the more than 531,000 parole grants at issue in this case represents a unique personal story. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and families have fled their home countries based on the promises of the CHNV Parole Processes. To pull the rug out from under them would be devastating.

  1. Doe v. Noem, Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-10495-IT, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70398, at *3 (D. Mass. Apr. 14, 2025).
  2. Id.
  3. See Implementation of a Parole Process for Venezuelans, 87 Fed. Reg. 63507 (Oct. 19, 2022); Implementation of a Parole Process for Cubans, 88 Fed. Reg. 1266 (Jan. 9, 2023); Implementation of a Parole Process for Haitians, 88 Fed. Reg. 1243 (Jan. 9, 2023); Implementation of a Parole Process for Nicaraguans, 88 Fed. Reg. 1255 (Jan. 9, 2023).
  4. See Brief of Faith-Based Organizations, Noem v. Doe, No. 24-A-1079 (May 15, 2025), available at http://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1079/358927/20250515180242940_Amicus%20Brief.pdf.
  5. See Tim Balk and Miriam Jordan, “Trump Administration Moves to End Program for Migrants From 4 Caribbean and Latin American Nations,” N.Y. Times (Mar. 21, 2025) (“Employers, like Amazon and Honda, which have struggled with worker shortages have hired many beneficiaries of the program since its inception.”), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/us/politics/the-trump-administration-moved-to-end-a-program-for-migrants-from-4-caribbean-and-latin-american-nations.html.
  6. 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A).
  7. See U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “Operation Safe Haven: The Hungarian Refugee Crisis of 1956,” available at https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/our-history/stories-from-the-archives/operation-safe-haven-the-hungarian-refugee-crisis-of-1956.
  8. See American Immigration Council, “Fact Sheet: The Use of Parole Under Immigration Law” (Apr. 8, 2024) available at https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/use-parole-under-immigration-law.
  9. Brief of Former Executive Branch Officials, Texas v. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., Civil Action No. 24-40160, at 12 (5th Cir. Aug. 2, 2024), available at https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theusconstitution.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Texas-v.-DHS-Former-Officials-Brief.pdf.
  10. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., “Uniting for Ukraine,” available at https://www.dhs.gov/archive/uniting-ukraine.
  11. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., “Operation Allies Welcome,” available at https://www.dhs.gov/archive/operation-allies-welcome.
  12. See supra note 1.
  13. See Doe v. Noem, Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-10495-IT, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70398, at *5 (D. Mass. Apr. 14, 2025) (quoting Implementation of a Parole Process for Venezuelans, 87 Fed. Reg. 63507 (Oct. 19, 2022)).
  14. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., “Immigration Enforcement and Legal Processes Monthly Tables,” data as of Nov. 30, 2024, available at https://ohss.dhs.gov/topics/immigration/immigration-enforcement/monthly-tables.
  15. See FWD.us, “Survey Data Show the Administration’s Parole Policy for the Americas Is a Successful Model for New Legal Pathways,” Jan. 25, 2024 (hereinafter “FWD.us Survey Data”), available at https://www.fwd.us/news/chnv-parole/.
  16. Doe, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70398, at *5 (quoting Implementation of a Parole Process for Venezuelans, 87 Fed. Reg. 63507 (Oct. 19, 2022)).
  17. See FWD.us, “Legal Pathways with Private Sponsorship Have Been Successful in Reducing Unauthorized Migration to the Border and Protecting Displaced People,” May 30, 2024, available at https://www.fwd.us/news/legal-pathways-successful/.
  18. See FWD.us, “Immigration Parole Policy Brief,” Apr. 5, 2023, available at https://www.fwd.us/news/immigration-parole/; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, “CBP Releases: August 2024 Monthly Update,” Sep. 16, 2024, available at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-august-2024-monthly-update.
  19. Center for American Progress, “CAP Analysis Shows that Expanded Legal Pathways to Enter the U.S. Reduce Irregular Migration, Aug. 7, 2024, available at https://www.americanprogress.org/article/cap-analysis-shows-that-expanded-legal-pathways-to-enter-the-u-s-reduce-irregular-migration/.
  20. Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, 90 Fed. Reg. 13611 (Mar. 25, 2025).
  21. Texas v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 722 F. Supp. 3d 688, 704 (S.D. Tex. 2024).
  22. See FWD.us, “To Lower Inflation, America Needs More Immigration to Alleviate National Labor Shortages,” Nov. 7, 2024 (hereinafter “FWD.us Inflation and Labor Shortages Report”), available at https://www.fwd.us/news/immigration-inflation/.
  23. FWD.us, “Industries with Critical Labor Shortages Added Hundreds of Thousands of Workers through Immigration Parole,” Mar. 26, 2025, available at https://www.fwd.us/news/immigration-labor-shortages/.
  24. FWD.us Survey Data. More than half a million individuals were admitted under the CHNV Parole Processes, but many were waiting for work authorization before working, and roughly 100,000 are estimated to be children and assumed to not be working. This is why only half of the total CHNV population, as of September 30, 2024, were estimated to be working. Surveys of CHNV participants show that the overwhelming majority of adults are working or planned to work once they receive their permit. According to the survey, most recipients were working (48%) or looking for work (32%) as of September 2024, with the expectation that approximately 88% would be in the workforce by the time the government issued work authorization documents to all those eligible. Id.
  25. Id.
  26. Id.
  27. See FWD.us Inflation and Labor Shortages Report
  28. Id.
  29. Brief of Cities, Counties, and Local Government Leaders, Noem v. Doe, No. 24-A-1079 (May 15, 2025), available at http://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1079/358938/20250515194216515_24A1079%20--%20Local%20Government%20Amicus.pdf.
  30. For methodology, see FWD.us, “FWD.US Methodology for Estimating the Immigration Status of the 2024 U.S. Immigrant Population,” available at https://www.fwd.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241210_FWD_ACSMethodology_v2.pdf.
  31. FWD.us Survey Data.
  32. Amended Complaint, Doe v. Noem, Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-10495-IT (D. Mass. Mar. 17, 2025), available at https://litigationtracker.justiceactioncenter.org/cases/svitlana-doe-v-noem-humanitarian-parole-district-court/amended-complaint.
  33. Id.
  34. Id.
  35. Id.
  36. Id.
  37. Brief of the American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations (“AFL-CIO”) and Affiliated Unions SEIU, UFCW, UAW, Unite Here, IUPAT, IUE-CWA, and BAC, Noem v. Doe, No. 24-A-1079 (May 15, 2025), available at http://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1079/358963/20250516121003835_CHNV%20Brief%20FINAL.pdf.
  38. Tim Padgett, “Venezuelans Call Biden's Humanitarian Parole Their ‘Best Hope’ — But ‘The Waiting Hurts,’” WLRN Public Media, Oct. 16, 2023, available at https://www.wlrn.org/immigration/2023-10-16/immigration-biden-parole-florida-venezuelan.
  39. FWD.us Survey Data.
  40. Id.
  41. Id.
  42. Id.
  43. See Brief of Faith-Based Organizations, Noem v. Doe, No. 24-A-1079 (May 15, 2025).
  44. Maggie Menderski, “Louisville Woman Escaped War-Torn Haiti as a Child. Now She's Trying to Rescue Her Sisters,” Louisville Courier Journal, Nov. 20, 2023, available at https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/family/2023/11/20/louisville-woman-hopes-to-rescue-sisters-from-haiti-under-chnv-program-us-immigration-adoption-law.
  45. Manuel Lopez, “Cuban Journalist Mario Pentón Welcomes His Brother in Miami through Humanitarian Parole,” Cuba en Miami, Dec. 19, 2023, available at https://www.cubaenmiami.com/en/periodista-cubano-mario-penton-recibe-a-su-hermano-en-miami-a-traves-del-parole-humanitario/.
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