The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to review the parole status of migrants brought in under a dramatic expansion of humanitarian parole by the Biden administration, opening the door for their rapid removal from the country.
In an internal memo signed Thursday, and obtained by Fox News Digital, Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman noted that he has moved this week to implement caps that would allow for the quick removal of recently announced migrants if they do not find asylum or comply not to a first standard. The power can now be used anywhere in the US for migrants in the US for less than two years.
The new memo says that with those expanded powers, any immigrant who DHS knows could be placed on expedited removal, but is not, should have their case reviewed and “consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether to apply for expedited removal.” ” The memo was first reported by The New York Times.
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President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump look on as they meet President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Inauguration Day of Donald Trump’s second presidential term in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
“This may include steps to terminate any pending removal proceedings and/or an active parole order,” it says.
It also says that for any immigrant granted parole under a policy that has been paused, modified or terminated by the Trump administrationofficers can decide whether to place them in removal proceedings and “assess the status of the Aliens parole to determine, in the exercise of your enforcement discretion, whether parole remains appropriate in light of a changed legal or factual status.”
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The memo also notes that parole is a “positive exercise of enforcement discretion to which no alien is entitled and that parole ‘shall not be considered an acknowledgment of the Alien.'”
This would mean that migrants who were granted parole at ports of entry after making an appointment through the CBP One app, or who were granted travel authorization for parole through the Parole Board for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), could are eligible for removal. The administration also launched conditional programs for nationals from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Nearly 1.5 million migrants were allowed under CBP One and CHNV, and both conditional channels were closed by President Donald Trump on his first day in the office. The Biden administration said the expanded “lawful paths” were part of an effort to reduce illegal crossings, but Republicans accused the administration of abusing limited parole power and allowing migrants who should not legally enter.
On January 23, 2025, Ice San Francisco arrested Ariel Rene Romice-Patino, a citizen of Mexico unlawfully present in the United States. (ICE)
Huffman’s memo follows one from earlier this week in which he ordered a review of the use of parole. The memo notes that the statute requires the authority to be used on a “case-by-case basis,” something Republican critics say the administration has abused. It emphasizes that parole “is a secure authority, applicable only in a very narrow set of circumstances.”
It also alleges that “it has been repeatedly abused by the executive branch over the decades in ways that are blatantly inconsistent with the statute.”
“Most importantly, the parole statute does not authorize categorical parole programs that presumptively qualify aliens based on a set of broadly applicable criteria,” it says.
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The memo directs the Heads of (ice) and Customs and Border Protection to compile, review, and formulate a plan to resolve any of the statute’s non-compliance with the statute.
The latest memo comes amid a flurry of moves by the administration on illegal immigration and immigration, including moves to send troops to the border, resettle refugees, build the border wall and launch a mass deportation operation.
Ice cream on Thursday Arrested more than 530 illegal immigrants in another day of raids US agents have focused on threats to public safety, but officials have said no one is off the table if they are in the country illegally.
