In a surprisingly quick turnaround, U.S. immigration authorities have already approved some applications by Cubans to come to live in the United States through a new parole program the Biden administration announced less than a week ago in a bid to curb migrants coming to the U.S. border and Florida shores.
“The first Cuban citizens have already been approved for the new parole program into the United States since the program began last Friday,” the U.S. embassy in Havana said Wednesday on Twitter.
A State Department spokesperson said the tweet was sent based on information provided by the Department of Homeland Security.
It was not clear Thursday how many Cubans have already been approved since the program started taking applications on Friday, but on Wednesday, hundreds of Cubans were chatting on WhatsApp, Facebook and other apps about their applications and how to fill out the required forms.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to Miami Herald questions about the number of approved applications or if Cuban applicants have already traveled to the United States through the program.
President Joe Biden announced the parole program for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans last Thursday. The Department of Homeland Security said the new program will “provide a lawful and streamlined way… to come to the United States without having to make the dangerous journey to the border.” In October, the federal government had announced a similar parole program for Venezuelans.
The administration said migrants coming to the U.S.-Mexico border illegally after the program went into effect will be sent back to Mexico, which has agreed to take 30,000 people back each month.
People can apply online from their home countries to be a part of the program, which allows them to live and work in the United States. However, applicants must travel through an airport, pay for their own air fares, have a U.S-based sponsor who can financially support them, and pass background and health checks, among other requirements.
DHS has said it will accept up to 30,000 Haitians, Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans monthly through the initiative. The agency has also said that those who come illegally to the United States will “generally” be ineligible to apply. Some advocates have slammed the new parole program’s requirements as inaccessible for people who do not have the financial means.
Cubans who have spent several years waiting to reunite with their relatives through the formal familyu-reunification immigration process have also expressed dismay after hearing some of the new parole cases have taken only days to get approved by the same agency, the U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services, that handles their applications.
“This is disrespectful to those who have spent years waiting for a petition’s response and we’ve been forgotten,” said Arelis La Rosa on Facebook, reacting to the news that some of the parole applicants had been approved.
“Congratulations but I don’t understand anything. Our process is paid, we have everything ready and nothing happens,” said another family-reunification applicant, Caritsa Embade. “Politics are the worst.”
The Biden administration seems keen on deterring would-be migrants from coming to the border and it is aggressively promoting the parole program.
About 225,000 Cubans came to the United States in the last fiscal year, mostly through the border with Mexico. But sea migration from the island has also skyrocketed and hundreds have recently arrived in Florida.
The U.S. embassy in Havana highlighted the parole program offers a safer alternative for Cuban migrants.
Speaking of the Cubans already approved for the program, the embassy said “these people will now benefit from legal, safe and orderly migration instead of attempting irregular and dangerous routes.”
The embassy also tweeted the following “warning” to Cuban, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Haitian migrants in Spanish: “Do not come to the U.S. border or you will be sent to Mexico. You will not be allowed entry. The U.S. has just announced a new process. The border is closed to irregular migration.”
