The Controversial Use of Parole by the Biden Administration: Allowing Over a Million People into the U.S.

The Biden administration’s use of the parole authority to allow over a million people into the United States has been a subject of intense debate and controversy. This policy, which has been in place since President Biden took office in 2021, has been invoked to welcome migrants from various countries, including those fleeing armed conflicts and political and economic crises. While the administration argues that this use of parole is necessary to respond to emergency situations and reduce illegal crossings at the southern border, critics argue that it is an abuse of the parole law.

Parole, a decades-old law, empowers federal officials to welcome migrants who do not have the visas required to enter the U.S. The law allows these entries if they further a humanitarian cause or public benefit, but it does not provide beneficiaries with permanent legal status. Instead, migrants paroled into the country are permitted to live and work in the U.S. for a period of time, typically one or two years.

Since President Biden took office, his administration has used parole at an unprecedented scale. According to internal government data obtained by CBS News, over 1 million people have been allowed to enter the U.S. under Biden administration programs based on the immigration parole authority. This includes hundreds of thousands of migrants who used a government phone app known as CBP One to schedule a time to be processed at an official U.S.-Mexico border crossing and were placed in deportation proceedings in immigration court. Other migrants were welcomed at airports under a sponsorship program that allows U.S.-based individuals to sponsor them.

The Biden administration has argued that its use of parole is part of a “balanced approach” that also includes penalties for illegal border crossings, such as a regulation that restricts asylum for those who don’t seek refuge in other countries before entering the U.S. However, Republican leaders in Washington and several states have accused the administration of abusing the parole law, which they argue is intended to be used only in limited cases.

In recent weeks, GOP lawmakers in Congress have demanded significant restrictions on parole and asylum in exchange for supporting President Biden’s request for border security funds and foreign military aid, including to Ukraine. While the White House and a small bipartisan group of senators have agreed to enact drastic limits on asylum and broader expulsion authorities, changing parole has remained a sticking point.

The proposals discussed by White House and Senate negotiators include putting numerical caps on parole grants and barring migrants paroled into the country from asylum to ensure they leave the U.S. once their parole period expires. However, the Biden administration has argued that such changes would hamper future administrations’ ability to respond to emergencies and reduce illegal crossings at the southern border.

Changes to the parole law could force the Biden administration to alter a key pillar of its immigration strategy. While Republican and Democratic administrations have used parole since the 1950s, the Biden administration’s use of the policy has been unprecedented by any measure. If Congress does restrict parole, it would curtail a key presidential power, according to Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor at Cornell Law School who studies U.S. immigration law.

However, even if Congress does not change the parole authority, its use could be restricted in federal court. Republican officials in Texas are currently asking a federal judge to block the sponsorship program for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, arguing that the policy flouts the limits Congress placed on legal immigration levels. The ruling on the program’s legality could come any day now.

The hundreds of thousands of people paroled into the U.S. during President Biden’s presidency could find themselves in legal limbo if Congress does restrict parole. While the Biden administration has announced processes to extend the parole grants of some groups, it has not done so for others. Republican presidential candidates hoping to defeat President Biden have signaled they would end his parole programs.

In conclusion, the Biden administration’s use of parole to allow over a million people into the U.S. has been a subject of intense debate and controversy. While the administration argues that this use of parole is necessary to respond to emergency situations and reduce illegal crossings at the southern border, critics argue that it is an abuse of the parole law. Changes to the parole law could force the Biden administration to alter a key pillar of its immigration strategy, and the ruling on the legality of the sponsorship program for migrants from certain countries could come any day now. The legal status of the hundreds of thousands of people paroled into the U.S. during President Biden’s presidency remains uncertain.