The Trump administration on Thursday began sending termination notices to over 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who had been living and working legally in the United States under a parole program created during the Biden presidency. The notices, issued by the Department of Homeland Security, instruct recipients to "self-deport immediately" and warn that failure to do so could result in detention and removal.
"If you do not leave, you may be subject to enforcement actions, including but not limited to detention and removal, without an opportunity to make personal arrangements and return to your country in an orderly manner," one such notice reads, according to CNN.
The decision comes just two weeks after the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration's authority to terminate the CHNV parole program, which offered two-year legal entry and work authorization to nationals of the four countries provided they had U.S.-based financial sponsors.
"The Biden Administration lied to America," said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin in a statement Thursday. "They allowed more than half a million poorly vetted aliens... to enter the United States through these disastrous parole programs; granted them opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers... and then blamed Republicans in Congress for the chaos that ensued and the crime that followed."
Applicants under the program were vetted before arriving and required to demonstrate financial sponsorship to avoid burdening public assistance programs. Still, DHS characterized the initiative as "unlawful mass entry," aligning with the administration's broader crackdown on immigration.
Immigrants who comply with the self-deportation directive via DHS's Home Mobile App will receive return assistance and a $1,000 relocation stipend, according to officials.
The mass revocation of parole status follows a separate Supreme Court decision last month allowing the Trump administration to rescind temporary protected status (TPS) for an additional 350,000 Venezuelans.
While executing the crackdown, President Donald Trump acknowledged concerns from U.S. agriculture and hospitality businesses. "Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-term workers away from them," Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. "This is no good. We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!"
Later speaking to reporters, Trump said: "Farmers are being hurt badly... They have very good workers, they've worked for them for 20 years... and then you're supposed to throw them out."
"We're going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think," he added, hinting at forthcoming executive action to provide relief to employers of long-time undocumented laborers.
