DHS Puts Migrant Parole Program on Hold Amid Alleged Fraud in Application Process

A Mexican immigration official waits as migrants with U.S.-approved parole authority load into his van ready to cross into the United States via a port of entry. (Courtesy of Todd Bensman/Center for Immigration Studies)

The Biden administration’s parole program allowing tens of thousands of migrants from four countries into the United States has been put on hold after an internal report found “massive fraud” in its application process.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Friday that it has temporarily stopped granting new travel authorizations “out of an abundance of caution,” while it reviews sponsor applications.

The pause was initiated after an internal report by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) found the use of fraudulent information in thousands of application forms filed by sponsors. The report was obtained by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to news outlets that the department takes any abuse of the program’s application processes “very seriously.”

“DHS has review mechanisms in place to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in our immigration processes,” the spokesperson said. “Where fraud is identified, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will investigate and litigate applicable cases in immigration court and make criminal referrals to the Department of Justice,” it added.

The CHNV parole program was set in motion for Venezuelans by President Joe Biden in October 2022 and was intended to help ease the number of illegal border crossings by flying people from certain countries directly to the United States. It was expanded in January 2023 to include Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua.

The program allows up to 30,000 migrants from the four countries into the United States each month, provided they meet certain conditions, including having a sponsor in the United States who will provide them financial support.

DHS promised to resume application processing “as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards,” noting that it had not identified “issues of concern” relating to the screening and vetting of beneficiaries.

“The multi-layered screening and vetting for advanced travel authorizations is separate from the screening of U.S.-based supporters,” the DHS spokesperson said.

Internal Report Finds Fraudulent Information

An internal report by USCIS found the use of fake social security numbers (SSNs) and false phone numbers in application forms. It found that some phone numbers were not standardized U.S. phone numbers and some had 11 digits.

In one instance, a sponsor’s phone number appeared in more than 2,000 forms submitted by 200 sponsors. The report found that 100 physical addresses were used in more than 19,000 application forms.

The report stated that 100,948 forms were filed by 3,218 serial sponsors, indicating the repeated use of the same sponsors in multiple forms. It also found that 24 out of 1,000 most used SSNs belonged to a deceased person.

FAIR said the report was based on a review conducted by USCIS of more than 2.6 million sponsor application forms received by the agency as of April 17.

These applications were submitted electronically and reviewed by personnel “who simply deem the application sufficient.” Out of the total applications received, nearly 529,000 applications were approved and 118,000 were rejected.

Rep. Mark Greene (R-Tenn.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, called on the Biden administration to terminate the parole program immediately.

Greene said DHS’s pause on the program “vindicates every warning” the committee had issued about the program.

“This is exactly what happens when you create an unlawful mass-parole program,” he said in a statement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) criticized the Biden administration’s move to implement the program and urged it be “shut it down permanently.”

“This program should have never existed in the first place. It’s just another way the Biden-Harris Administration has welcomed hundreds of thousands of aliens into our country, unchecked,” he stated on X.

At least 494,799 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have been allowed entry into the country under the administration’s CHNV parole program through June 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Florida and Texas have received the most parole participants.

T.J. Muscaro contributed to this report.