More than half a million Latin American, Haitian immigrants given deadline to self-deport
The Department of Homeland Security officially posted a notice to end protections for 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to the Federal Register on Tuesday.
This sets up a 30-day deadline, which will fall on April 24, for those affected to self-deport or face the consequences.
"The Department of Homeland Security is warning that if these people do not voluntarily depart the country, they will be found, arrested and deported from the country," CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez said. "In fact, the administration is saying that the people affected by this policy change should sign up to self-register on a smartphone app provided by the government and tell people that they will be departing the country."
Miami immigration attorney Morella Aguado said the new guidelines unfairly target individuals who were legally admitted into the country.
"That's not fair, because people that came in with the parole came in legally through the legal system and they were authorized by the United States authorities to remain legally in the United States," Miami immigration attorney Morella Aguado said. "So, the fact that you're having to leave within 30 days, facing the possibility of being detained is definitely something that's not like it's not due process, like it's just a violation of what they were initially granted."
Termination of work permits and deportation protections
Recently, the Trump administration announced it was revoking the legal status of more than half a million immigrants from those four countries who came to the U.S. legally under "parole" status.
It's a Biden era program known as CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) which allowed immigrants to live in the U.S through sponsorship by a U.S citizen or permanent resident. The program was created as a way to give immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border a safe entry into the U.S without having to go through a smuggler.
CBS News first reported in early February that the Trump administration was planning to revoke the legal status of individuals who entered the U.S. under the CHNV process.
DHS said many of the people that came through this program were loosely vetted and it undercut American workers.
Aguado pointed out this brings up other legal challenges: "People have lease agreements, legally speaking, the legal obligations of a lease agreement, or maybe a vehicle, all of these terms and legal contracts that we have now obligation switch, and what are they going to do with those contracts?"
Change in policy faces legal challenge
The administration's decision is being challenged in court. Activists and lawyers are saying this notice is going to cause needless chaos and heartbreak for families across the country.
The Justice Action Center is taking the lead on the lawsuit.
"The Trump administration's legally baseless move to simply declare this executive authority is 'unlawful' and it's cruel as it is nonsensical," Karen Tumlin, founder of the Justice Action Center, said.
