The Biden-Harris Administration’s border policies just hit a new low. A recent House Judiciary report revealed a shocking loophole that has allowed illegal immigrants with violent criminal records—including those wanted for sex trafficking—to slip into the United States. The so-called “categorical parole” program for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) effectively bypasses the border altogether, allowing tens of thousands of illegal immigrants each month to fly directly into domestic airports. The administration touts this as providing “legal pathways,” but critics argue it’s more about bending the law than following it, especially since Congress never approved this scheme.
Under the program, immigrants board commercial flights into the U.S. and are granted parole for up to two years by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As of September 2024, over 531,000 individuals from these nations had entered the country through this backdoor process. Conveniently, the administration avoids counting these entries in Border Patrol statistics, artificially lowering reported numbers and painting a rosier picture of a border crisis spiraling out of control. Critics suggest this program is less about solving the problem and more about hiding it.
The mechanics of the program don’t inspire much confidence either. To qualify, a CHNV sponsor must file a financial support form with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), pledging to take responsibility for the immigrant during their parole period. Once approved, the immigrant is flown to the U.S., where DHS rubber-stamps their parole and grants them eligibility for work permits. According to the House Judiciary report, the administration has turned this program into a massive loophole to bypass standard immigration protocols. The report accuses the Biden administration of engaging in fraud, compromising national security, and recklessly endangering public safety in the process.
The program’s exploitation by sex traffickers is perhaps its most alarming flaw. The report uncovered suspicious CHNV applications, many linked to the same IP addresses and disproportionately tied to female immigrants, raising red flags about human trafficking. Another investigation found that individuals involved in criminal activities, including welfare fraud, were approved as sponsors for CHNV parolees. It’s a stark reminder of how dangerous this system has become, not just for Americans but for the vulnerable immigrants caught up in its web.
Introduced in 2021 by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, this program has evolved into a symbol of fraud and dysfunction. Critics say it undermines the rule of law, jeopardizes public safety, and opens the door for bad actors to exploit its flaws. Despite being marketed as a “legal pathway,” the CHNV program appears to be nothing more than a legal loophole on steroids, putting Americans at risk while the administration looks the other way. With these damning findings now public, the question remains: how long will this broken system be allowed to continue before real reform takes priority?
