US ends legal status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants

WASHINGTON: The United States announced on Friday that it is terminating the legal status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, giving them only weeks to leave the country.

The decision aligns with President Donald Trump’s pledge to implement a large-scale deportation campaign and tighten immigration controls, particularly targeting arrivals from Latin American countries.

The order impacts approximately 532,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who entered the U.S. under a program launched in October 2022 by then-President Joe Biden and later expanded in January 2023.

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), these individuals will lose their legal protection 30 days after the order is published in the Federal Register, scheduled for Tuesday. As a result, affected immigrants must leave the country by April 24 unless they obtain an alternative immigration status allowing them to remain.

Welcome.US, an organisation that assists refugees, urged those affected to seek legal counsel immediately to explore their options.

The CHNV (Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans) programme, introduced in early 2023, permitted up to 30,000 migrants per month from these four nations to enter the U.S. for two years. Biden initially promoted the initiative as a “safe and humane” approach to managing migration and easing pressure on the U.S.-Mexico border.

However, DHS reiterated that the programme was always intended to be temporary. “Parole is inherently temporary and does not provide a pathway to permanent immigration status or constitute formal admission into the United States,” the agency stated.

Trump’s administration has also taken steps to expedite deportations. Last week, the government invoked wartime legislation to transport over 200 alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, which has offered to detain both migrants and U.S. citizens under specific agreements.