The Trump administration is canceling deportation protections and work permits for over half-a-million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguan and Venezuelans who arrived in the United States under a two-year Biden-era humanitarian parole program.

The program will shut down in late April, 30 days after a notice is scheduled to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register on the program known by its acronym for the countries enrolled — CHNV. Individuals who fail to leave the U.S. within the 30 days after the notice posts on Tuesday will be deported, the Department of Homeland Security said. DHS officials are urging migrants to self-deport, using a mobile app from U.S. Customs and Border Protection known as CBP Home.

The people affected by the decision come from the region’s most troubled countries. In Cuba, the island remains under a repressive dictatorship and Cubans are experiencing repeated blackouts and shortages of food and medicine. In Haiti, there hasn’t been a general election in nearly a decade; more than a million people have been displaced by armed gang violence and the country’s volatile capital is on the verge of collapse. In Venezuela and Nicaragua, repressive regimes have also prompted a humanitarian crisis that has forced millions to flee.

President Joe Biden created the parole program so people from the four countries would have a new legal avenue to come to the U.S for two years., while reducing irregular migration at the southwest border. People could use the program to come to the U.S. as long as they had a financial sponsor here, could arrange for their airfare, and passed health and background checks. About 30,000 people a month have been coming to the U.S. under the program since began in January 2023.

But the Trump administration said the humanitarian parole program does not align with President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and did not have much impact on curbing the flow of migrants at the U.S. southern border. Rather, officials argue, the program added to the immigration backlogs because 75,000 of the people who came on the parole program have applied for asylum. The program also created pressures at airports — Florida received 80% of the arriving migrants, the administration said.

“These programs do not serve a significant public benefit, are not necessary to reduce levels of illegal immigration, did not sufficiently mitigate the domestic effects of illegal immigration, are not serving their intended purposes, and are inconsistent with the Administration’s foreign policy goals,” the Federal Register notice says.

The end of the parole program is part of Trump’s crackdown on legal immigration paths that allow people to temporarily come to the U.S. Last month, DHS ended work permits and deportation protections under temporary protected status for Venezuela and rolled back the same program for Haiti.

Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s decision to end the humanitarian parole program for Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela.

How many people came to the United States through the CNHV humanitarian parole program and are affected by this decision?

As of December 2024, the last full month Biden was in office, 531,690 people had come through the program, which began in January 2023. That includes 110,240 Cubans, 211,040 Haitians, 93,070 Nicaraguans, and 117,330 Venezuelans who flew into U.S. airports.

How many days do people in the program have to leave the U.S.?

The federal notice revoking legal status of humanitarian parolees is expected to be published on Tuesday and the Department of Homeland and Security has provided a 30-day wind-down period. However, Homeland Security can deport anyone without a lawful basis to remain in the U.S. following the termination, including within the 30 days. Migrants are being urged to self-deport and to report their departure once outside the U.S. via the CBP Home mobile app. More information on voluntarily self-deporting is available at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/home.

Why a 30-day notice?

DHS says it has determined that a 30-day wind-down period provides affected parties sufficient notice while also preserving the agency’s ability to enforce the law promptly against those CHNV parolees lacking a lawful basis to remain. Homeland Security also warns that the agency retains the right to start enforcement action against any migrant at any time including during the 30-day period. This means that anyone can be picked up and put in deportation proceedings even before their parole ends.

Why is the Trump administration stripping migrants of humanitarian parole?

The notice says DHS has determined that the program “did not result in a sufficient and sustained improvement in border security, and has exacerbated challenges associated with interior enforcement of the immigration laws.” The administration says that the number of parolees who came through airports, which was a requirement of the program for those with permission to travel to the U.S., “remained unacceptably high” while the program was in effect.

“The need to break the ‘vicious cycle’ of unlawful immigration supports this DHS action to terminate the CHNV parole programs in favor of new presidential directives that address the demand for enhanced border security,” the notice said.

What other reasons is the administration giving for doing away with humanitarian parole?

The Trump administration claims that migrants and other recent arrivals “have competed for limited resources such as housing, food, transportation, education, legal services, and public benefits.” Second, individuals in the program “have exacerbated backlogs, or risked exacerbating backlogs, for the immigration system,” the notice said.

Republicans also criticized the parole program as an overreach and abuse of executive presidential powers. But past Democratic and Republican presidents have used their parole authorities to allow people from countries at war to come to the United States. That includes Soviet and Vietnamese citizens fleeing turmoil in their home countries.

Who will be at risk for deportation?

DHS intends to prioritize for deportation those who have not, prior to the publication of the notice, properly filed a request for an immigration benefit to have a lawful basis to remain in the U.S. This includes applying for adjustment of status, asylum and temporary protected status. Also targeted for deportation: people who are not the beneficiaries of an immigration-benefit request filed by someone else on their behalf. This includes petition for a relative, a fiance or an immigrant employee. Migrants who came under the parole program and who have obtained a lawful immigration status that permits them to remain in the U.S. are not required to depart the country under this decision.

Can I apply for asylum or some other immigration status to protect me from deportation?

The administration has said that people who entered the U.S. through the humanitarian parole program will have any applications to adjust their status put on hold. Immigration lawyers say they do not understand how, for example, people can be blocked from applying for asylum if they have a valid claim. That said, anyone affected by the termination notice should consult with an immigration attorney. The administration decision implies that any steps paroled migrants take to adjust their immigration status after publication of the notice on Tuesday would not be deemed as protection against deportation.

I have a valid work permit. Will this affect me?

The administration is canceling all work authorizations of people who came to the U.S. under the parole program. DHS has determined that, after termination of the parole, the condition upon which the employment authorization was granted no longer exists, so the agency intends to revoke parole-based employment authorization, according to the notice.

What does revoking employment authorization mean?

When the work authorization ends it automatically places those people in an undocumented status in the U.S. This means that at any point they can be picked up by immigration officials and put in deportation proceedings. For those who have been here for two years or less and are living near a border, the notice says, their deportation will be expedited.

What happens to migrants who cannot return to their home countries?

That is unclear. But the notice says that President Trump has been negotiating with Latin American countries about taking undocumented migrants that the U.S. is deporting. For example, on Feb. 16 Panama received a U.S. military plane transporting 119 deportees of various nationalities, who were then supposed to be repatriated to their own respective countries. “Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has offered his country as a stopover for aliens expelled from the United States,” the federal notice says.

Is the administration really going to deport people?

The notice says that following termination of the program, Homeland Security intends to promptly deport individuals who entered the U.S. under the parole programs who do not depart the U.S. before their parole termination date and do not have any lawful basis to remain

What does this mean for my car and rent in the U.S.?

The federal notice notes that people have made significant investment under the program, either selling property in their home countries before traveling to the U.S., or purchasing vehicles and paying rent here. But the program stresses that parolees knew the program was temporary and that the Homeland Security secretary “retained the discretion to terminate the parole programs at any point in time, and to terminate any grants of parole at any time.”

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