Trump administration ends CHNV program, putting tens of thousands Haitians at risk for deportations

The Trump administration on Friday made good on its campaign promise to end “migrant flights” into the United States through a parole program called Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV), effectively revoking the legal status of more than 500,000 migrants  According to Secretary Kristi Noem, migrants under CHNV will lose their legal status on April 24. Migrants are expected to self-deport 30 days after the unpublished Federal Register notice is released on March 25.

The Department of Homeland Security said in its termination notice that the CHNV programs “do not serve a significant public benefit, are not necessary to reduce levels of illegal immigration, did not sufficiently mitigate the domestic effects of illegal immigration, are not serving their intended purposes, and are inconsistent with the administration’s foreign policy goals.”

The program, originally established in 2022 under the Biden administration to curb the illegal migration of Venezuelans to the U.S.-Mexico border, was expanded in 2023 to include citizens from Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua. Dubbed by many in the Haitian community as the “Biden Program,” the policy allowed up to 30,000 people monthly to enter the U.S., contingent on passing health and background checks and having a financial sponsor for a two-year period. 

As President I will immediately end the migrant invasion of America. We will stop all migrant flights, end all illegal entries, terminate the Kamala phone app for smuggling illegals (CBP One App), revoke deportation immunity, suspend refugee resettlement, and return Kamala’s…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2024

Haitian leaders condemned the decision, calling it racism and an act of moral panic.

“Let’s be clear: this is a war on poor, Black and brown people who dared to seek safety. These families have followed the rules. Now they are being told they’re no longer welcome because Trump wants to rally his base with racist fear-mongering,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, said in a press statement.

Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat, disagrees with the assertion that the parole program had no “public benefit,” arguing that this decision will disrupt businesses across the country.

“As I’ve stated before, the abrupt removal of nearly half a million individuals is inhumane, irrational and it will have an irreparable impact on businesses across the country and our economy at large,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a press statement. 

“Those with humanitarian parole status legally work and pay taxes in the U.S. across South Florida and throughout the nation, they have strengthened our workforce, supporting our airports, our hospitals, our small businesses and our schools,” she said. “This irresponsible decision will jeopardize our national security and significantly damage the economies of numerous communities nationwide.”

CHNV program provided legal pathway for thousands of Haitians before being dismantled

Enacted in 2023 for Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Cubans, the program saw significant participation from Haitians, with 138,000 individuals benefiting from it since its launch, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security released in October 2024.

Within six months of the program’s launch, more than 1.5 million applications were filed, forcing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to revise the process. Half of the applications were randomly selected and reviewed regardless of the filing date, and the other half were reviewed based on the date submitted. 

The program was paused in August 2024 due to fraud concerns. In October of that year, the Biden Administration announced it was not renewing CHNV.

According to an October 2024 Pew Research Center report, the monthly number of U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing into the U.S. from Mexico fell sharply after reaching a record high in 2023. In August 2024, there were 58,038 encounters with migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border,  a 77% decline from 249,741 encounters in December 2023, the most ever recorded in a single month.

“The Secretary has concluded that neither urgent humanitarian reasons nor significant public benefit warrants the continued presence of aliens paroled under the CHNV programs and the purposes of such parole therefore have been served,” the notice published in the Federal Register states. 

The notice also states that “parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States.”

For Jozef, the administration’s move is a page from the Project 2025 playbook.

“Terminating this program is not just an immigration rollback—it’s an orchestrated effort to unleash [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] tear apart families and criminalize the very existence of people of color on U.S. soil, consistent with the agency of Project 2025,” she said.

The nonprofit head is calling for members across both sides of the aisle to intervene and stop mass deportations of legal immigrants.

This order is the latest in a series of policies aimed at removing legal protections for Haitian migrants.

Last month, the Trump administration “partially” vacated President Joe Biden’s July 2024 notice extending Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by 18 months, setting a new expiration date of Aug. 3, 2025, instead of the original Feb. 3, 2026.

In March, the administration announced it was considering a ban on immigrant and tourist visa travel from Haiti to the U.S., with the exception of wealthy travelers. 

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