Trump moves to deport 1.4 million migrants admitted under Biden’s parole programs

President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement can deport foreign nationals who were allowed into the United States under one of former President Joe Biden’s parole programs.

A Thursday memo obtained by ABC News stated that migrants who have “been granted parole under a policy that may be paused, modified, or terminated” could be subject to expedited removal.

‘Expands the scope of expedited removal to the statutory maximum.’

The memo, written by acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman, indicated that Trump’s administration is empowering ICE to revoke the legal status of the roughly 1.4 million foreign nationals who were allowed into the country under two Biden-era parole programs: the CBP One app and the CHNV.

The CBP One app enabled 1,450 foreign nationals per day to schedule appointments at a port of entry to claim asylum. On Inauguration Day, Trump shut down the controversial mobile application, canceling any existing appointments.

The Biden administration’s app permitted more than 919,000 individuals into the country since it was established in January 2023.

The CHNV program allowed 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the country with temporary legal status for two years. The program allowed 530,000 foreign nationals to enter the U.S.

Last week, a DHS spokesperson accused the Biden administration of abusing “the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country.”

“This was all stopped on day one of the Trump administration. This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis,” the spokesperson added.

The DHS memo instructed ICE to review immigration cases individually to determine whether a foreign national should be placed in expedited removal or removal proceedings.

It read, “Take all steps necessary to review the alien’s case and consider, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether any such alien should be placed in removal proceedings; and review the alien’s parole status to determine, in exercising your enforcement discretion, whether parole remains appropriate in light of any changed legal or factual circumstances.”

Huffman explained that the memo aimed to provide “guidance regarding how to exercise enforcement discretion in implementing” policies outlined in a January 21 notice titled “Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal.”

“That notice expands the scope of expedited removal to the statutory maximum,” Huffman wrote.

According to the notice, the statutory maximum allows the federal government to issue expedited removals for foreign nationals who have been in the U.S. for less than two years without requiring immigration hearings.

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