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Unpacking Humanitarian Parole Amidst May 30 Supreme Court Ruling

On May 30, 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration could terminate the Biden-era humanitarian parole program known as CHNV, which allowed more than 500,000 ([link removed]) people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the United States and remain temporarily for a period of two years. While not a final ruling, the Supreme Court's order means that temporary protection for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who are already in the U.S. will no longer be in place while this case plays out in the lower courts. The case now returns to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, MA.

Many CHNV parolees are now at risk of deportation proceedings. A March 25 notice to the federal register ([link removed]) indicates that the Department of Homeland Security intends to "remove promptly" CHNV parolees who do not have any lawful basis to remain in the United States, prioritizing those who had not filed an immigration benefit application before March 25, 2025. In other words, if they applied for asylum or a green card prior to the March 25 notice, they may have legal grounds to remain in the United States. All others can be deported at any time. Recent press report ([link removed])s indicate the Haitians could be sent to Guantanamo.

What is CHNV?
CHNV is a humanitarian parole program launched in late 2023 to provide humanitarian protection for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. It was modeled after the United for Ukraine (U4U) program that was launched in the spring of 2022 to welcome displaced Ukrainians as a result of the Russian invasion. CHNV utilized a private sponsorship model which required a U.S.-based sponsor to prove they had the financial means to support the CHNV national and to showcase why the individual merited parole. The CHNV national then had to go through background checks before receiving authorization to travel to a U.S. airport, where a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official considered them for parole on an individual basis. CHNV was only available to people who were able to travel to the United States by air, not by land. Individuals from these countries who crossed at a land port of entry at the Southern border, were ineligible for the CHNV program.

CHNV was coupled with restrictions on access to asylum at the Southern U.S.-Mexico border for migrants from these nations. The Mexican government agreed to allow the United States to expel up to 30,000 migrants ([link removed]) from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua into Mexico each month. In short, migrants who crossed without authorization into Panama, Mexico, or the U.S. after the parole program was announced (in October 2022 for Venezuelans, January 2023 for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans), were ineligible for the CHNV program or for asylum.

This coupling of humanitarian parole alongside harsher enforcement for other asylum seekers from the same countries was not utilized in the U4U program or in other humanitarian parole programs, like the one for Afghanistan. It's also important to note that the CHNV program had maximum caps for arrivals. There were no maximums for the U4U program or the Afghanistan program, but the CHNV was capped at 30,000 people from each nation per month.

Why launch CHNV?

Continue reading this article on our blog post HERE ([link removed]) ([link removed]).

 

Sanctions - an Interventionist Coercion Tactic or Tool for Positive Change

There is debate on whether using sanctions is a strategic or harmful foreign policy strategy. US administrations increasingly deploy this tactic ([link removed]) to push a certain political agenda or thwart a purported security threat. There is growing evidence that points to the harmful and destabilizing nature of broad-based sanctions, especially on the everyday population of the impacted country (source ([link removed])). In the realm of foreign policy tactics, sanctions are touted as lower-stakes and lower-risk than engaging in full-scale war or diplomatic negotiations (source ([link removed])). While some sanctions are embedded in laws passed by the US Congress, most sanctions are implemented by executive actions signed by the president. The ease with which sanctions can be implemented has led to their overzealous use, and their reasons for deployment are often not well-developed or clear.

The longstanding sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, for instance, have failed spectacularly in achieving their stated policy goal of ousting their respective governments (source ([link removed])), even if one supports regime change as an appropriate foreign policy goal. Meanwhile, these broad-based sanctions severely impact small producers, whole sectors of the local economy, and contribute to people emigrating from these countries (source ([link removed])). Sanctioned governments also use sanctions to point the finger at the USA as the imperialist culprit for their weakened economies. And they are not wrong. The Quixote Center generally does not support regime change as a foreign policy goal or this type of broad-based use of sanctions as they impact the most vulnerable communities and working families (source ([link removed])).

How, then, does this compare to the proposed sanctions in the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act? The Quixote Center supports and advocates for this Act, as it leverages sanctions for targeted individuals known to be financing criminal gangs and thus fueling the illegal trafficking of arms from the US to Haiti. This Act would not implement sanctions on an entire industry or sector, and is not aimed at regime change. The US Department of State would work with federal agencies and the intelligence community to create an explicit list of "all known gang leaders and political and economic elites who have direct and significant ties to gang networks" (source ([link removed])).

Historic use of sanctions has eroded faith in this tool. While it is unwise (and unjust) to apply sanctions to entire sectors of an economy, carefully targeting identified actors by freezing their assets and bank accounts is part of an effective strategy to halt arms trafficking to Haiti. The ultimate aim is to bring peace, stability and sovereignty back to the people of Haiti.
We encourage you to join our action ([link removed]) and ask your congressional representative to co-sponsor this bill.

To see all our sources and leave a comment visit our blog post HERE ([link removed]).

 

Take Action for Haiti:
Tell your Representative to Support andCo-Sponsor the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act

The humanitarian situation in Haiti continues to worsen as its people suffer from a crisis of gang violence and hunger, fueled by weapons and ammunition trafficked from the US. The flow of illegal weapons not only allows gangs to terrorize communities, but undermines stabilization efforts in Haiti such as long-term governance solutions and security reforms. Cutting off the financing for arms dealing in Haiti is crucial because it deprives gangs of the weapons they use to decimate communities and commit atrocious crimes against humanity.

Join us in taking action to curtail the power of Haiti's gangs by urging your representative to support the Haiti Criminal Collusion Transparency Act which directs sanctions at Haiti's political and economic elites who finance gangs and profit from gang violence.

Thanks to strong bipartisan support, this bill has a strong chance of passing in both the House and Senate.

Click on the Take Action button below to urge your representative to support and co-sponsor the bill!

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