Thousands of Cubans benefiting from humanitarian parole have expressed concern since the announcement this Friday regarding the revocation of that immigration benefit within a 30-day period, starting from the official announcement of the measure, scheduled for this Tuesday.
In an interview with Univision, attorney José Guerrero clarified some doubts, made notes on the scope of the measure, and most importantly specified who is at greater risk of expedited deportation once the measure goes into effect.
Who does this decision affect?
Guerrero stated that the decision affects individuals who still have a valid parole, and noted that following the official announcement of the measure, all humanitarian paroles that had been issued will be canceled within 30 days.
"If you have been in the country for more than two years and have already applied for a migration benefit or have a defined immigration status, you will not have any problems and will be able to stay in the U.S.," Guerrero stated.
"Now, those who have not applied by the publication date are the ones at greater risk of being subjected to expedited deportation; they won't even go through an immigration court," he added.
According to Guerrero, those who have already applied for residence one year and one day ago but still do not have any documentation in hand should, in principle, not be affected.
“They should not be affected based on this publication…,” pointed out the lawyer, who clarified that the document excludes those who have undergone a “status adjustment” before the publication of the measure, which includes the Cuban Adjustment Act, TPS, T visa, U visa…
"Those who applied before this publication should be protected because they have a legal basis to stay in the U.S.," he stated.
However, the situation complicates for beneficiaries of humanitarian parole who have not yet applied for residency due to being in the country for less than one year and one day, and who have not made an asylum application.
Those people, if they did not submit an asylum request before the announcement made this Friday, would no longer be able to do so.
"If a person does it right now, it doesn't count; the publication states before the publication of this news", clarified the lawyer.
"Those who have not reached a year and a day but did not apply for asylum may unfortunately be affected," he stated.
"Those who have been here for a while should have applied for residency or asylum […] Those who have already applied will be protected, and those who have done nothing, unfortunately, are subject to expedited deportation," he clarified.
In response to the question about what might happen to those who choose not to leave the U.S., he answered:
"As it is very clearly stated, it is a priority for the government to remove them from the country quickly, because a person who has already been in the country for two years must be placed in a regular deportation process, and we know that the courts are overwhelmed with cases. They will notify each individual... they will be detained and deported swiftly," concluded the attorney.
Journalist Wilfredo Cancio estimates that the number of Cubans who would be left legally unprotected is around 26,000. These are individuals who entered U.S. territory after March 2024 and will not have met the one-year residency requirement to qualify for protection under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA).
In that calculation, do not include those who, in a foresighted manner, applied for Cuban asylum before the announcement this Friday.
Revocation of humanitarian parole
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the United States announced this Friday the revocation of the humanitarian parole programs for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, as well as their immediate family members, known as the CHNV programs.
The decision responds to the Executive Order 14165 by President Donald Trump, issued on January 20, 2025, which mandates securing the border and ending categorical parole programs.
The DHS argued that these programs failed to reduce irregular migration or significantly improve border security, and that they created additional pressure on local communities, public resources, and the already overwhelmed immigration judicial system.
More than 532,000 people entered the United States under these programs between 2022 and 2025. The DHS argues that these mass admissions, although legal under the parole provision, were contrary to the original spirit of the law, which states that such permits should be granted on a case-by-case basis.
The current regulations will become ineffective 30 days after the official publication of the notice, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security determines otherwise for individual cases.
Those who do not have any other legal basis to remain in the country must leave or face deportation proceedings.
Filed under:
