Venezuelan migrants look at a US map at a welcome center in El Paso, Texas, in 2022. Getty Images
US President Donald Trump’s administration has announced it will revoke the temporary legal status of over 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. These migrants must leave the country before their permits and protection from deportation expire on April 24. The federal government issued a notice informing them of the deadline.
The migrants were part of the CHNV programme, which was introduced during President Joe Biden’s term. It aimed to create a legal pathway for migrants from these four countries to enter and stay in the US temporarily. Under the programme, migrants could fly into the country if they had an American sponsor. They were granted two years of temporary protection, known as parole, which allowed them to live and work in the US.
Biden’s administration initially argued that CHNV would help reduce illegal border crossings by giving migrants a legal route into the US. It was also meant to improve the screening process for new arrivals. However, Trump suspended the programme as soon as he took office, claiming it had failed to meet its goals.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the decision, stating that the programme had created chaos. It claimed that migrants under CHNV took jobs from American workers and said that Biden’s policies had contributed to rising crime rates. DHS also blamed the previous administration for forcing civil servants to continue supporting the programme, even when cases of fraud were identified.
The government notice mentioned that some CHNV migrants could still be allowed to remain in the US on a "case-by-case" basis, but no further details were provided.
Trump’s administration is also considering removing legal protections for 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the US during the war with Russia.
Since its launch in 2022, CHNV has helped over 213,000 Haitians enter the US as conditions worsened in Haiti. It also allowed 120,700 Venezuelans, 110,900 Cubans, and over 93,000 Nicaraguans to migrate legally before Trump shut it down.
In addition to ending CHNV, the DHS announced last month that it would cancel another legal protection known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 500,000 Haitians by August. TPS was originally granted to people from countries facing severe crises, such as war or natural disasters. DHS also terminated TPS for Venezuelans, although this decision is currently being challenged in court.
Since Trump took office in January, his tough immigration policies have faced several legal battles. However, he continues to push forward with his agenda, aiming to crack down on temporary migration programmes introduced by the previous administration.
