Of the 14 million illegal border crossers reported under the Biden-Harris administration, more than 3 million are from four countries whose citizens were granted expanded entry through a parole program created by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV).
At least 2,496,080 illegal border crossers from CHNV countries were reported under the Biden-Harris administration, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. The data represents fiscal years 2021-2024, excluding the first three months of fiscal 2021 under the previous administration. The federal fiscal year is from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
When including the 531,000 released into the country through CHNV, the total increases to at least 3,027,080 from these four countries. The total excludes gotaways, those who illegally entered and evaded capture, those released into the country through the CBP One App and other parole programs Mayorkas created, and the tens of thousands of Haitians and Cubans repatriated by the U.S. Coast Guard, The Center Square reported.
Mayorkas argues the CHNV and other parole programs are legal and necessary; federal judges have ruled they aren’t. Republican members of Congress argue they’re illegal and cited them as evidence to impeach Mayorkas in February. The papers CHNV foreign nationals and other illegal border crossers receive from Department of Homeland Security agencies state they are illegal aliens, are unlawfully present in the U.S., and require them to report to an immigration judge years into the future, The Center Square first reported.
The U.S. State Department designated two of four CHNV countries, Cuba and Nicaragua, as Countries of Particular Concern for “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.” These include “torture, prolonged detention without charges, forced disappearance, or other flagrant denial of life, liberty, or security of persons.” Cuba is also designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
