The Biden administration has temporarily halted a migrant sponsorship program aimed at deterring illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border due to concerns about sponsor fraud, officials announced on August 2nd.
The program, which began in late 2022 and expanded in early 2023, allows up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to fly legally to the U.S. each month if American sponsors agree to support them financially. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stopped issuing travel documents while it reviews sponsor applications.
“DHS has temporarily paused the issuance of advanced travel authorizations for new beneficiaries out of an abundance of caution,” the department stated. “DHS will resume application processing with appropriate safeguards as quickly as possible.”
The pause initially affected Venezuelan applicants in July before extending to the other three nationalities. This action follows concerns from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ fraud detection unit about multiple migrants being sponsored by single individuals.
The investigation focuses on U.S.-based sponsors, some of whom have reportedly advertised sponsorships online. Sponsors must be U.S. citizens, residents, or have legal status in the country. DHS has stated that it refers cases of immigration fraud to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution and emphasized that no issues have been identified in the vetting of eligible migrants.
Since the CHNV policy’s inception, approximately 520,000 migrants from the four specified countries have been allowed to fly to U.S. airports after security vetting. This policy, paired with returning migrants to Mexico if they enter the U.S. illegally, has significantly reduced illegal crossings from these nations.
Republican-led states have challenged the CHNV program in federal court, claiming it violates the intent of the humanitarian parole law. However, a federal judge in Texas dismissed the lawsuit, and the states are currently appealing the decision.
While migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border reached record highs in 2022 and 2023, they have dropped sharply this year, hitting their lowest level in nearly four years in July. This decline is attributed to President Biden’s stricter asylum policies, extreme summer temperatures, and Mexico’s efforts to curb migrant flows.
