The U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended a Biden-era humanitarian parole program that allowed people under threat to live and work legally in the United States.
The program admitted more than half a million people to the U.S. including a group of French-speaking Haitian immigrants in eastern Wisconsin. Last week, they received a notification, sent to them in English, encouraging them to self-deport immediately.
“What people have to understand is the people that are here, the immigrants that are here in our community … came here legally,” local immigration attorney Marc Christopher told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
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“These individuals did it the right way. And for better or for worse, they’re here,” he added. “And to cut their visas off midstream … is inhumane.”
To qualify for the program, they were required to pass a background check and have a U.S. sponsor to provide financial support.
Community organizers who have been working with this group of Haitian immigrants described them as hard-working, religious people with backgrounds in entrepreneurship, phlebotomy and education.
Now, their options for staying in the country legally are extremely limited.
“They abandoned not just their jobs, but their homes, their families, because their lives were threatened,” said Hélène Pohl, a volunteer translator who immigrated to the U.S. from France 50 years ago. “They thought they had found a welcoming country.”
The program known as the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, or CHNV, Parole Program allowed people from those countries to live and work in the U.S. for two years due to urgent humanitarian concerns in their home countries, such as repressive tactics or threats of violence.
Data on the exact number of people participating in the program is not public, but Christopher estimates there are roughly 300 Haitian immigrants living in the Waupaca area. Pohl said she’s worked with at least 80 people directly.
President Donald Trump canceled the program on his first day in office and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the cancellation on May 30. Homeland Security started sending notifications to self-deport less than two weeks later.
It was the first en masse termination of such a program on record, according to NPR.
“This program was abused by the previous administration to admit hundreds of thousands of poorly vetted illegal aliens into the United States,” DHS wrote in a press release.
The statement goes on to say the program gave immigrants “opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers.”
Local media outlets have reported at least 100 Haitian immigrants were working at a Tyson Foods meat processing plant in New London. WPR reached out to Tyson Food for comment but received no response.
According to Pohl and Christopher, the immigrants fill a needed gap in Wisconsin’s workforce.
“You don’t have to take my word for it. Go ask any of the employers, the manufacturers, the builders, the construction company owners that are here in central Wisconsin,” Christopher said. “These are very good, hardworking laborers.”
What’s next?
Christopher and his team were anticipating the termination of the program and have been working to present asylum cases for some Haitian immigrants. They’ve been able to grant at least 10 people asylum so far, but the options to stay in the U.S. legally are limited.
“At least twice a week, I get a call into my office from someone who indicates, ‘I’m supportive of these deportations, I’m supportive of raids. But I’ve got someone here that works for me, or, ‘I’ve got somebody that I know and I want to help them get legal. So what do we need to do to get them citizenship?’” Christopher said.
“They are amazed when I tell them there is no path, or if there is a path, it might be 20 to 30 years,” he added.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to be granted asylum a person has to prove they’ll experience harm from their home country’s government — and the motivation for that harm. It also has to be because of your race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.
Pohl said most of the individuals from Haiti have been targeted and exploited by gangs for money. She’s heard stories of kidnappings, threats to children and acts of violence against many of the immigrants.
As the federal government continues to crack down on immigration across the country, Christopher said it has created a chilling effect. Many people stopped going to church and outside gatherings. They’re also concerned about going to court appearances out of fear of deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Even children are worried.
“These kids are terrified — to the point that the children are asking teachers and they’re asking me, ‘Is there a way I could be adopted here in the United States so I don’t have to go back?’” Christopher said. “That’s heart-wrenching.”
