Immigrants with family reunification processes from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have had problems boarding their flights to the United States in recent days.
Hundreds of immigrants with family reunification processes from Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have had problems boarding their flights to the United States after the arrival of the new administration of Donald Trump.
"When we went to board the plane they told us to go to the U.S. embassy and that they would give us more information there but they wouldn't let us travel," said Olga Lidia Hernández, a beneficiary of the Cuban Family Reunification Program (CFRP).
“They told me that they had denied me permission to fly and gave me no further explanation,” he said.
Bárbara León, mother of Olga Lidia Hernández, told Martí Noticias through tears that she is desperate after the cancellation of the flight of her daughter and two granddaughters. “I've been waiting for this moment for eight years. I traveled to Cuba and they turned us away from the airport. They treated us very badly. We did our immigration processes well. It's not fair," he commented.
Under the Joe Biden administration, family reunification programs were modernized and a routine similar to that of Humanitarian Parole was established that allowed a flight permit to be obtained after the immigrant's facial scan without waiting for an immigrant visa to become available. Previously, beneficiaries of family reunification programs had to undergo a consular interview.
CFRP and other similar programs targeting Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were put into effect or modernized under President Joe Biden's administration. These processes are available exclusively by invitation to certain petitioners whose Forms I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative) have been approved.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicates that once invited to the program, immigrants must submit a form I-134A (Online Application to Become a Support Person and Declaration of Financial Support) and if the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services United States (USCIS) verifies that this is appropriate, the Department of Homeland Security conducts a security investigation of each beneficiary and evaluates their eligibility for advance travel authorization.
“In the event that advance travel authorization is granted, the beneficiary may travel to the United States on a commercial airline and request a discretionary permit (Parole) for temporary stay at a port of entry within a United States airport,” adds the DHS.
After reaching the White House, President Donald Trump eliminated similar programs that granted parole to migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti, as well as revoked the CBP One program that allowed migrants to schedule an appointment to request asylum in the United States.
Trump also revoked the travel of at least 10,000 refugees who were authorized to resettle in the United States, leaving numerous people stranded around the world. Among those affected, more than 1,600 Afghans are trapped in their attempt to escape the Taliban regime.
The Department of Homeland Security deferred to the State Department following a request for comment from Martí Noticias. The State Department returned a request for comment to its Homeland Security counterpart, who administers family reunification programs.
The Cuban Family Reunification Program was stopped for years after mysterious health incidents that left dozens of American diplomats affected at the US Embassy in Cuba.
A reliable source familiar with immigration processes who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal administration policies said that the new administration “is not happy” with many of the initiatives inherited from the Biden administration but that “there has been no made a final decision on family reunification programs.”
“Since January 20, when President Donald Trump took office, not a single beneficiary of these family reunification programs has arrived,” said another source with knowledge of the immigration processes.
Tito Alexander Martínez Guillén, a Salvadoran who had planned to travel to the United States yesterday with his wife and four children after selling his belongings and quitting his job, was stranded in his country.
“When we arrived, the airline told us that they had received a statement from Customs and Border Protection in the United States that they would not let anyone board who had processed their permits through the CBP One app, that they should go to the embassy, but there they told us that “They couldn’t do anything,” he said.
“Right now we have no way to go or anywhere to stay,” he added.