Among the categories of parole are port-of-entry parole, humanitarian parole, parole in place, removal-related parole, and advance parole (typically requested by persons inside the United States who need to travel outside the U.S. without abandoning status, such as applicants for LPR status, holders of and applicants for TPS, and individuals with other forms of parole).[1]
Parole has also been used systematically by some presidential administrations to bring into the United States targeted groups of foreign nationals, many instances of which can be classed as refugee-related parole programs, family reunification parole programs, and Cuban parole programs.[1] The use of broad parole authority has been controversial and subject to limitations and modification over time.[1]
Humanitarian
Humanitarian parole is granted only in exceptional circumstances and on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the DHS.[2]
Uniting for Ukraine
The Uniting for Ukraine program allows Ukrainian citizens and their immediate family members to enter the US for a period of two years if a US sponsor agrees to financially support them. It was implemented in response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
As of December 2023, over 170,000 Ukrainians had been paroled into the US through Uniting for Ukraine.[3]
Modeled after the Uniting for Ukraine program, citizens of these four Latin American countries can be paroled into the US for a period of two years if a US sponsor agrees to support them.[4] The program allows a combined total of 30,000 people per month from the four countries to enter the US. The program was implemented in response to high numbers of people from these countries crossing into the US at the southwest border.[5]
Family reunification
Cuba and Haiti
Under the Cuban Family Reunification Parole and the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, certain eligible U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents are eligible to apply for parole for their family members in Cuba or Haiti. If the family member is granted parole, the family member would then be allowed to enter the U.S. before their immigrant visas were available. After entering the U.S. under parole, the family member would need to wait for their immigration visa priority date to arrive before applying for lawful permanent resident status, although the family member would have the option of applying for discretionary work authorization in the meantime.[6][7]
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras
In 2014, President Barack Obama established the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program to provide certain children, youth, and family members escaping violence, persecution, or other humanitarian situations in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with an opportunity to enter the United States as refugees or parolees.[8] In its current form, the CAM Program allows parents or legal guardians 18 years of age or older who are in the United States as lawful permanent residents, or with Temporary Protected Status, parole for more than one year, deferred action for more than one year, deferred enforced departure, withholding of removal, or with a pending asylum application or U visa petition filed prior to May 15, 2021, to apply for their children and other eligible family members to come to the United States as refugees or parolees.[9] In order for any household member to be eligible, the "qualifying child" must be under the age of 21 at the time of application, unmarried, and a national of El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras and physically located in the country of origin or another of the three countries.[8] Other eligible family members include parents of the qualifying child living in El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras and their other children and spouse in certain cases; primary caregivers and siblings of a qualifying child; and the unmarried child of a qualifying child under the age of 21.[9]
After a qualifying parent or legal guardian files an application (an Affidavit of Relationship) with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration through a U.S. Resettlement Agency, the children and eligible family members undergo a pre-screening interview with the International Organization for Migration in the country where they are located, complete a DNA test (where applicable), and go through a refugee interview with USCIS.[9] Applicants may not have counsel present during interviews.[10] All applicants are initially considered for refugee status.[8] Individuals determined to be ineligible for refugee status are automatically considered for parole on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit.[8] Refugee status denials cannot be appealed, but a Request for Review is available for individuals denied refugee claims and denied parole status in some instances and must be filed within 90 days of being notified of the negative decision.[9]
Individuals granted refugee and parole status must complete a medical exam and clear security vetting prior to traveling to the United States.[9] Refugees must apply for legal permanent residence after one year of being in refugee status and may apply for citizenship after holding legal permanent residence status for approximately five years.[8] If a person is approved for parole, they may lawfully enter and live temporarily in the U.S. without accruing unlawful presence for the parole period.[9] CAM parolees are eligible to apply for work authorization and may apply for another form of immigration relief to secure a permanent status.[8] At this time, CAM parole is issued for a three-year period and is renewable.[9]
The CAM Program has been operational in various iterations. During the initial CAM Program, operating from 2014 to 2017, more than 12,000 individuals applied, with about 3,000 entering the United States before the Trump administration terminated it through a series of actions in 2017 and 2018.[11] Advocates sued the Trump administration for terminating the CAM Program unlawfully in a case called S.A. v. Trump.[12] The litigation resulted in a settlement agreement that continues to be enforced as of January 2023. Through this litigation, since 2019, over 1,600 individuals have been paroled into the United States.[13]
The Biden administration restarted the CAM Program in two stages. Since March 2021, when it reopened the CAM Program only for some applications filed originally between 2014 and 2017 (those that had not received an interview before their case was closed), approximately several hundred CAM beneficiaries have reached the United States.[10] Since September 2021, when the Biden administration reopened the CAM Program for new applications, an estimated several hundred new applications were filed. In the first year of accepting new applications, no case was completed and resulted in a beneficiary traveling to the United States.[13] Since restarting the Program, it has operated at a fraction of the capacity that it did in its first years.[13] Under Phase One, USCIS began to process new applications and reopened some cases terminated in 2018.[8] Phase Two was announced on June 15, 2021 and the Program began accepting applications on September 14, 2021.[14] Various obstacles have prevented many qualified individuals from applying and processing bottlenecks have constrained prompt adjudication of cases and kept most others from resettlement.[15]
In January 2022, fifteen states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed a lawsuit seeking to end the program and to block eligible children fleeing violence from obtaining a safe and legal path for protection in the United States.[16] In May 2022, two parents actively seeking CAM protection for their children intervened in the lawsuit as defendants to present evidence of the program's impact.[16]
Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program
Under the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program, Filipino World War II veterans and their spouses who are U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents were eligible to apply for parole for certain family members. Following President Donald Trump's Executive Order 13767, which instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security to exercise its parole authority "only when an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit derived from such parole", the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program was ended. No new applications under the program are being accepted, although individuals already in parole status continue to maintain that status until its expiration date, they may request re-parole, and they may apply to adjust status when eligible to do so.[17]
Start-up entrepreneurs
In 2017, DHS published a new rule, effective July 17, 2017, adding new provisions regarding the use of parole on a case-by-case basis with respect to entrepreneurs of start-up entities who demonstrate that they will provide a significant public benefit to the United States.[18]
In May 2018, DHS published a proposed rule to remove those IEP regulations.[1] As of February 10, 2020, USCIS had received a total of 28 IEP applications, of which 1 was approved, 22 were denied, 3 were withdrawn, and 2 were pending.[1]
Build Back Better
A proposed provision in Joe Biden'sBuild Back Better proposed legislation would grant immigration parole to about eight million formerly undocumented immigrants living in the country since 2011 or earlier. The parole, which would allow immigrants to work and to freely come and go from the country, would be granted for five years and renewable for another five years up to a maximum of ten years.[19][20]
Advance parole
A Form I-512L, Authorization for Parole of an Alien Into the United States (an Advance Parole form), issued to a DACA recipient in 2014, permitting a United States Customs and Border Protection officer to allow the named foreign national to enter the United States under the parole authority found in Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(d)(5)(A).
Advance parole is permission for a non-U.S. national, who does not have a valid immigrant visa, to request re-entry to the United States after traveling abroad, and to temporarily leave the U.S. without abandoning an ongoing immigration status.[1] Such persons include those who have applied to adjust their status to that of permanent resident or to change their non-immigrant status.
To obtain an advance parole, an applicant must file Form I-131 ("Application for Travel Document"), with supporting documentation, photos, and fee, at a local USCIS office or the service center having jurisdiction over their place of residence.
Eligibility
Aliens in the United States need an advance parole if they have:
an application for adjustment of status pending.
been admitted as a refugee or have been granted asylum.
been granted benefits under the Family Unity Program.
an emergent personal or bona fide reason to travel temporarily abroad.
Aliens holding valid K-3 or K-4 visas, as well as H-1 (temporary worker in a specialty occupation) or L-1 (intra-company transferee) visas and their dependents in H-4 or L-2 status who have filed for adjustment of status do not have to file for advance parole as long as they maintain their non-immigrant status.[22]
Aliens in the United States are not eligible for an advance parole if they are:
in the United States without a valid immigration status.
an exchange alien subject to the foreign residence requirement.
A Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document, issued to an applicant for adjustment of status by USCIS in November 2018, and noting at the bottom that the card also serves as a Form I-512 providing for Advance Parole (EAD-AP combo card).
Advance parole can come on a letter-sized piece of paper titled "Authorization for Parole of an Alien Into the United States". For applicants who apply for advance parole together with an employment authorization document (EAD), USCIS issues a "combo card", a variant of the EAD card which contains the words "SERVES AS I-512 ADVANCE PAROLE".
Re-entry into the United States
Advance parole does not guarantee re-entry into the United States. Aliens who have obtained advance parole are still subject to the inspection process of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry.[1] However, aliens who would otherwise be automatically inadmissible due to a period of unlawful presence, will not be inadmissible if they have advance parole.[23]
Path to lawful permanent residence
Originally, the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act did not contain provisions for a parolee to apply for adjustment of status, which is ordinarily the standard process of obtaining lawful permanent residence (green card holder) status while in the United States.[1]
In 1960, INA section 245(a) was amended to allow for the adjustment of status of an alien who had been inspected and admitted, or paroled, into the United States, subject to a number of requirements and restrictions.[1] Among the requirements, an individual must be eligible to receive an immigrant visa, and the individual must have an immigrant visa immediately available in order to adjust status.[1]
↑ 8 U.S.C.§1229a(e) ("The term 'exceptional circumstances' refers to exceptional circumstances (such as battery or extreme cruelty to the alien or any child or parent of the alien, serious illness of the alien, or serious illness or death of the spouse, child, or parent of the alien, but not including less compelling circumstances) beyond the control of the alien.")
↑ Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012) ("An alien who leaves the United States temporarily pursuant to a grant of advance parole does not thereby make a 'departure . . . from the United States' within the meaning of section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C.§1182(a)(9)(B)(i)(II) (2006). Matter of Lemus, 24 I&N Dec. 373 (BIA 2007), clarified").
A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. Green card holders are formally known as lawful permanent residents (LPRs). As of 2023, there are an estimated 12.7 million green card holders, of whom 9 million are eligible to become United States citizens. Approximately 18,700 of them serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.
An Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility is an application for legal entry to the United States made by an individual who is otherwise inadmissible on one or more grounds. The application is submitted to the consular office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office or immigration court considering the immigrant visa or adjustment of status application.
TN status is a special non-immigrant classification of foreign nationals in the United States, which offers expedited work authorization to a citizen of Canada or a national of Mexico. It was created as a result of provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement that mandated simplified entry and employment permission for certain professionals from each of the three NAFTA member states in the other member states. The provisions of NAFTA relevant to TN status were then carried over almost verbatim to the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement that replaced NAFTA in 2020.
Visitors to the United States must obtain a visa from one of the U.S. diplomatic missions unless they are citizens of one of the visa-exempt or Visa Waiver Program countries.
Permanent Residence Under Color of Law (PRUCOL) is an immigration-related status used under some US federal and state laws for determining eligibility for some public benefits, an example being unemployment benefits. It allows for a broader group of non-citizens to qualify for benefits than just those with green cards. This status is used solely for benefit application purposes and is not recognized as an immigration status by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This category was created by the courts and is a public benefits eligibility category. For a person to be residing "under color of law," the USCIS must know of the person’s presence in the U.S., and must provide the person with written assurance that enforcement of deportation is not planned. A person residing under PRUCOL status cannot directly apply for U.S. citizenship or sponsor family members to obtain U.S. Citizenship. A person from any country, who resides in the United States without current legal immigration status including, but not limited to, citizenship, permanent residency, unexpired immigrant visa, is an undocumented person. They are ineligible for most federal public benefits.
An H-4 visa is a United States visa issued to dependent family members of H-1B, H-1B1, H-2A, H-2B, and H-3 visa holders to allow them to travel to the United States to accompany or reunite with the principal visa holder. A dependent family member is a spouse or unmarried child under the age of 21. If a dependent of an H-1B, H-1B1, H-2A, H-2B, or H-3 worker is already in the United States, they can apply for H-4 immigration status by filing Form I-539 for change of status with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
A Form I-766 employment authorization document or EAD card, known popularly as a work permit, is a document issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides temporary employment authorization to noncitizens in the United States.
The Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy Act of 2007 or STRIVE Act of 2007 is proposed United States legislation designed to address the problem of illegal immigration, introduced into the United States House of Representatives. Its supporters claim it would toughen border security, increase enforcement of and criminal penalties for illegal immigration, and establish an employment verification system to identify illegal aliens working in the United States. It would also establish new programs for both illegal aliens and new immigrant workers to achieve legal citizenship. Critics allege that the bill would turn law enforcement agencies into social welfare agencies as it would not allow CBP to detain illegal immigrants that are eligible for Z-visas and would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens with very few restrictions.
The EB-1 visa is a preference category for United States employment-based permanent residency. It is intended for "priority workers". Those are foreign nationals who either have "extraordinary abilities", or are "outstanding professors or researchers", and also includes "some executives and managers of foreign companies who are transferred to the US". It allows them to remain permanently in the US.
The Re-entry Permit is a travel document similar to a certificate of identity, issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to U.S. lawful permanent residents to allow them to travel abroad and return to the United States. It is a green passport-like booklet with the words Travel Document, a symbol, and other official wording in blue-gray. Individuals whose application for permanent residency has not yet been approved can apply instead for advance parole.
The U visa is a United States nonimmigrant visa which is set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse while in the U.S. and who are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity. It permits such victims to enter or remain in the US when they might not otherwise be able to do so. An advantage that comes along with the acceptance of a U-visa is the individual will have deportation protection which is important when they are collaborating with law enforcement.
Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative is a form submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services by a United States citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident petitioning for an immediate or close relative intending to immigrate to the United States. It is one of numerous USCIS immigration forms. As with all USCIS petitions, the person who submits the petition is called the petitioner and the relative on whose behalf the petition is made is called the beneficiary. The USCIS officer who evaluates the petition is called the adjudicator.
Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status is one of the forms issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is used by people currently in the United States in a non-immigrant status to change the classification for their status and/or extend their stay with their current status. Both the current status and the status to which the transition is being sought must be non-immigrant visa statuses.
The Legal Immigration Family Equity Act of 2000, also known as the LIFE Act and as the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act, along with its Amendments, made some changes to laws surrounding immigration for family members of United States citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents, as well as people eligible for employment-based immigrant visas, in the direction of making it easier for family members and immigrant workers to move to and adjust status within the United States. It was passed on December 21, 2000, as title XI of Pub. L.106–553 (text)(PDF).
Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker is a form submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) by a prospective employer to petition an alien to work in the US on a permanent basis. This is done in the case when the worker is deemed extraordinary in some sense or when qualified workers do not exist in the US. The employer who files is called the petitioner, and the alien employee is called the beneficiary; these two can coincide in the case of a self-petitioner. The form is 6 pages long with a separate 10-page instructions document as of 2016. It is one of the USCIS immigration forms.
Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) is a program managed by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). SAVE facilitates lookups on the immigration and nationality status of individuals in the United States. It is an intergovernmental initiative designed to help federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies, or by a contractor acting on the agency's behalf, to determine eligibility for benefits, licenses or grants, government credentials, or to conduct background investigations. It is one of two programs that uses the Verification Information System (VIS). The other program is the Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program, also known as E-Verify, and is used by employers to verify the immigration status of employees. For additional verification, SAVE relies on the Person Centric Query System (PCQS).
The Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program is a U.S. refugee and parole program established in November 2014 by the Obama administration. It is a refugee protection and family reunification pathway on which several thousand families rely and for which tens of thousands more families are technically eligible. The CAM Program was designed to permit certain children and other eligible family members to escape life-threatening danger and other humanitarian crises and to reunite with parents or relatives in the United States. This program provides certain qualified parents and legal guardians to apply for their children and other eligible family members, who are nationals of and physically present in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, to come to the United States as refugees or parolees. The CAM Program has been operational from 2014 to 2017-18 when it was terminated over a series of actions; and from 2021 to the present, when it was restarted in two phases, first for some previously closed cases and then for new applications. To date, most CAM Program beneficiaries have been Salvadoran families of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, making up 86 percent of applicants from the 2014–2017. Since the Biden administration restarted the CAM Program for new applications, the CAM Program has had expanded eligibility criteria, including parents and guardians with pending asylum applications or U visa petitions, which should enable many more Guatemalans and Hondurans to apply.
Federal policy oversees and regulates immigration to the United States and citizenship of the United States. The United States Congress has authority over immigration policy in the United States, and it delegates enforcement to the Department of Homeland Security. Historically, the United States went through a period of loose immigration policy in the early-19th century followed by a period of strict immigration policy in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Policy areas related to the immigration process include visa policy, asylum policy, and naturalization policy. Policy areas related to illegal immigration include deferral policy and removal policy.
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 was a legislative bill that was proposed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office. It was formally introduced in the House by Representative Linda Sánchez. It died with the ending of the 117th Congress.
Keeping Families Together (KFT) is a United States immigration policy for certain noncitizen spouses and noncitizen stepchildren of American citizens to request parole in place. It was announced by U.S. President Joe Biden through executive order on 18 June 2024 and implemented on 19 August 2024.
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