President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security wasted no time dismantling another legacy of the Biden administration, announcing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now has the authority to deport foreign nationals admitted under Biden-era parole programs. In a move certain to reignite debate over immigration policy, a Thursday memo revealed the administration’s intent to clean up what it considers a gross misuse of parole authority. According to the memo, migrants who were granted parole under policies that may be “paused, modified, or terminated” could soon find themselves subject to expedited removal.
Acting DHS Secretary Benjamine Huffman outlined the administration’s plan to empower ICE to revoke the legal status of the estimated 1.4 million migrants admitted under two controversial Biden programs: the CBP One app and the CHNV program. The CBP One app, a brainchild of the Biden administration, allowed 1,450 migrants per day to schedule appointments at U.S. ports of entry to claim asylum. Trump’s administration wasted no time in shutting down the app on Inauguration Day, canceling any remaining appointments and signaling a return to stricter border policies.
Since its inception in January 2023, the CBP One app had enabled more than 919,000 migrants to enter the U.S., often bypassing traditional channels of immigration enforcement. Meanwhile, the CHNV program allowed 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the country with temporary legal status for two years. Altogether, this program admitted over 530,000 foreign nationals into the United States. Both initiatives, touted as humanitarian efforts by the previous administration, have now been labeled as reckless abuses of the parole system by Trump’s DHS.
A DHS spokesperson didn’t mince words, accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately admit migrants with little oversight. According to the spokesperson, Trump’s swift action to halt these programs on day one reflects a commitment to restoring the parole system to its original intent—evaluating migrants on a case-by-case basis rather than opening the floodgates. The directive also instructed ICE to individually review immigration cases to determine whether migrants should face expedited removal or other removal proceedings.
The memo outlined the administration’s guidance on exercising enforcement discretion. It emphasized reviewing each case carefully to decide whether parole remains appropriate, especially in light of changing legal or factual circumstances. Huffman noted that these steps align with policies outlined in a January 21 notice titled “Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal.” This notice expands the use of expedited removal to its full statutory limit, enabling the federal government to deport foreign nationals who have been in the U.S. for less than two years without the need for lengthy immigration hearings. For Trump supporters, this marks a long-overdue course correction in immigration policy, while critics are already bracing for another round of partisan battles over the administration’s hardline stance.
