Migrants Who Followed Legal Channels Now Targeted in US Immigration Policy Reversal

Following President Donald Trump's renewed focus on immigration enforcement, significant policy shifts are underway, dismantling temporary legal pathways established under President Joe Biden. 

These changes have left thousands of migrants, who legally entered the United States through Biden-era initiatives, facing uncertain futures and the threat of deportation. The prior administration's programs, including expanded humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status (TPS), were implemented to manage increased migration after the COVID-19 pandemic. Over a million migrants from countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela were admitted under these programs. 

However, as executive actions, their impermanent nature made them susceptible to reversal by subsequent administrations. The Department of Homeland Security has repurposed the CBP One app, initially designed for scheduling port-of-entry appointments, into a tool that critics contend is being used to facilitate self-deportation. Humanitarian parole has been rescinded for over half a million migrants, while TPS protections for Venezuelans and Haitians are being phased out. 

Although a federal judge temporarily halted the cancellation of TPS for some Venezuelans, the broader rollback continues. Critics, such as Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council, argue that these migrants, who followed legal procedures, are now unfairly targeted. They entered the country with formal government approval, yet are now being treated as “foreign trespassers” subject to deportation under policies championed by figures like Stephen Miller.

The Immigration and Naturalization Act, the legal framework governing immigration, is complex, permitting asylum claims and granting presidents authority to offer humanitarian parole while criminalizing unauthorized border crossings. Biden's expansive use of parole drew criticism for potentially overstepping legal boundaries, but it provided temporary relief to migrants fleeing conflict and persecution. Many migrants are now scrambling to secure alternative legal statuses, such as work visas or asylum.