(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Biden-led DHS has reinstated a controversial parole program that allows up to 30,000 foreigners from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S. without crossing the border illegally.
The Advance Travel Authorizations (ATAs) program had been suspended after an internal report uncovered fraudulent documents, including fake beneficiary profiles and dubious financial records.
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News that the program will not impose additional scrutiny on submitted documents, such as fingerprinting U.S.-based supporters or conducting more thorough criminal and financial background checks.
“DHS is committed to holding accountable individuals who commit fraud or attempt to exploit others for gain,” the spokesperson said. “Any individual found to have committed fraud or other abuse will be referred to law enforcement for potential prosecution.”
#BREAKING DHS is resuming the CHNV parole program after it was paused due to fraud discovered in the sponsorship process—The program allows for 30k migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly directly into the county each month.
“DHS is resuming the issuance of new… pic.twitter.com/WpXUQlhVoU
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) August 29, 2024
Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform—the group that first exposed the fraud—minced no words in his response to the program’s reinstatement.
“DHS has given no indication that they are going to investigate past fraud or move to revoke the parole statuses of those who gained it fraudulently,” Stein said in a statement. “‘What’s done, is done,’ is not an acceptable plan for dealing with past fraud or instilling confidence in the program moving forward.”
The Biden-Harris administration launched the program in October 2022 for Venezuelan nationals but expanded it in January 2023 to include Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans.
According to congressional sources cited by Fox News, DHS stopped issuing parole to Venezuelans on July 6 and to other nationalities on July 18 following the discovery of fraud.
Applicants must demonstrate they have U.S.-based sponsors capable of financially supporting their stay while they receive temporary parole protections. Applications can be submitted from their home countries through the USCIS website.
As reported by Fox, FAIR uncovered that 3,218 individuals had posed as the sponsors for a staggering 100,948 applications. This hinted at the existence of massive fraudulent claims.
The program’s weak security, which exposed it to fraud, underscores another failure by the Biden-Harris administration in managing the self-created border crisis.
“The CHNV program was established without congressional authorization and in violation of statutory requirements that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis for explicit national interest or humanitarian purposes,” Stein said on Aug. 2.
