Scott, Cruz, and Colleagues Call on Garland, Mayorkas to Eliminate Illegal Alien Parole Program Mired in Fraud and Abuse

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas calling on them to end a parole program for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan aliens ("CHNV"), due to reports of widespread fraud and abuse, and because the program violates federal law.

The letter identifies that the Biden-Harris CHNV program clearly violates the law and lists other the catastrophic failures of the program, including incentivizing illegal immigration, importing gang members and other dangerous criminals into the country, and evidence that tens of thousands of aliens were admitted pursuant to fraudulent applications. The Senators called for immediate termination of the CHNV Parole Program, enhanced border security and immigration enforcement, a comprehensive investigation of the failures associated with the program, and restoration of congressional oversight.

Senators Scott and Cruz were joined on the letter by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).

The senators wrote, "We write to you with urgent and serious concerns regarding the Cuba-Haiti-Nicaragua-Venezuela (CHNV) Parole Program, recently administered by the Biden-Harris administration. Between January 2023 and July 2024, this program facilitated the entry of approximately 520,000 illegal aliens via commercial air travel. Eighty percent landed in Florida. Houston, Dallas, and Austin, Texas, were also among the top destinations for these aliens, accounting for 10,350 arrivals during the program's first eight months. This program was intended to provide a pathway, not authorized by Congress, for unauthorized individuals from these four nations to enter our country. However, a new internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report obtained by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) reveals severe and systemic flaws that jeopardize our national security and public safety."

"In response to mounting evidence and growing criticism, the Biden administration decided to temporarily halt the CHNV Parole Program in mid-July "out of an abundance of caution" so it could undertake a review of supporter applications. After less than six weeks of pause, the Department of Homeland Security recently restarted the program, which now requires those who wish to sponsor illegal aliens to submit fingerprints for the vetting process. Officials announced plans to more closely review the financial and criminal records of would-be sponsors, and increase scrutiny of repeat sponsors," the senators continued.

"These stop-gap marginal improvements and platitudes to improve the program do not solve the fundamental fraud, failure, and illegality of the CHNV program. This fundamentally-flawed program must be permanently dismantled, and steps must be taken to ensure that future immigration policies are both lawful and effective.

"Our nation's security and the safety of our citizens demand that we act decisively to address these critical issues. We must restore confidence in our immigration policies and ensure that our systems are both secure and effective," stated the senators. Read the full letter here.

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