Biden won't extend controversial mass immigration program — Rep. Green dismisses move as 'another optics-driven smokescreen'

The Biden-Harris administration decided not to extend temporary legal status for the more than 500,000 immigrants who entered the country through its CHNV program, the Department of Homeland Security stated Friday.

The CHNV program allows 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to immigrate to the United States. The program provides beneficiaries with temporary legal status and a work permit for a two-year period.

'Hard to believe the Biden-Harris administration has a plan to remove.'

On Friday, the DHS confirmed that the Biden-Harris administration will not extend temporary legal status beyond the two years. Instead, beneficiaries will have to apply for another program to legally remain in the country.

Immigrants from Haiti who arrived in the U.S. before June and those from Venezuela who arrived before July 2023 can apply for Temporary Protected Status to avoid removal orders.

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "As initially stated in the Federal Register notices, a grant of parole under these processes was for a temporary period of up to two years. This two-year period was intended to enable individuals to seek humanitarian relief or other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible, and to work and contribute to the United States."

"Those who do not have pending immigration benefits or who have not been granted an immigration benefit during their two-year parole period will need to depart the United States prior to the expiration of their authorized parole period or may be placed in removal proceedings after the period of parole expires," the statement continued.

As of the end of August, nearly 530,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela entered the U.S. on the program.

Representative Mark Green (R-Tennessee) told the New York Post that the administration's decision not to extend the program was "yet another optics-driven smokescreen" to appear tougher on immigration heading into the November election.

"There are numerous other ways these inadmissible aliens could be — and likely will be — allowed to stay, including through applying for asylum or Temporary Protected Status," Green stated. "Even if they don't, however, given ICE's [Immigration and Customs Enforcement's] low enforcement rates under this administration, most simply will not be priorities for removal."

The controversial mass immigration program, largely opposed by Republicans, came under fire after a Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate report discovered fraud. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security paused CHNV in mid-July "out of an abundance of caution." However, the program was restarted weeks later after the department said it would implement "additional vetting."

"Remember, a recent DHS Inspector General report found that the Biden-Harris administration still has no plan to remove the 77,000 Afghan nationals who were paroled in 2021 and 2022, and no effective process for monitoring parole expiration," Green told the Post. "So, it is hard to believe the Biden-Harris administration has a plan to remove a far greater number of inadmissible Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals paroled into the country at their direction."

Last month, a group of senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-Texas), sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding the "fundamentally-flawed" program be terminated, Blaze News previously reported. The senators called the administration's program "ineffective, unlawful, and hazardous."

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