15.02.2023
Attorneys general from 20 US states have asked a federal court to issue an injunction that freezes the humanitarian program that grants immigration permits to citizens of Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba.
The attorneys general of 20 US states asked a federal court, this Tuesday, February 14, 2023, to issue an injunction that freezes a humanitarian program that grants an immigration permit to citizens of Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba. In a court document, the plaintiff states ask a federal judge in Texas to pause the program as an injunction while the court decides the case.
At the end of January, the attorneys general of about twenty states filed a lawsuit asking the court to end the program, which allows migrants from four Latin American countries to apply for a permit to live and work legally in the US.
The plaintiffs argue that the decision of the Joe Biden government to give the green light to the humanitarian program was “arbitrary and capricious.” In turn, they assure that the program, which has a maximum limit of 30,000 humanitarian permits per month, represents an expense of millions of dollars for the states that have to provide “services to migrants.”
“Incomprehensible” demand
The lawsuit is signed by the prosecutors of states such as Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas and Kentucky, among others, and is directed against the Department of Homeland Security and its head, Alejandro Mayorkas, as well as against the agencies federal agencies in charge of ensuring border security and regulating migration to the United States.
Mayorkas has defended the program, saying it has reduced irregular border crossings by 90 percent, calling the demand “incomprehensible.”
The White House announced the creation of immigration relief for Venezuelans in October, amid an increase in the arrival of people from this country, mired in a political and economic crisis, to the southern border with Mexico.
Earlier this year, he announced that he would extend the program, known as a “humanitarian parole,” to also include people from Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba, who have themselves arrived in record numbers seeking asylum at the border. In the month of January, some 11,000 people of these four nationalities entered the US under this program, according to DHS data.
hot returns
Parallel to the immigration benefits, the Biden government has implemented a policy of hot returns, through a health regulation known as Title 42, which allows immigration authorities to expel citizens of these countries to Mexico without giving them the opportunity to request asylum.
Title 42, a regulation inherited from the term of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), has allowed more than 2.5 million expulsions of migrants since it came into force in 2020, according to data from the International Rescue Committee.
rml (eff, Telemundo)