June 12 (UPI) — People from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela on Thursday began receiving notices of termination of their temporary protected status. They were told to self-deport.
The Department of Homeland Security used email to send the TPS termination notices to inform more than 500,000 affected people that the parole and work authorizations granted by the Biden administration have been revoked with immediate effect, CBS News reported.
Those who have not obtained other lawful immigration approvals are encouraged to self-deport.
The Supreme Court on May 30 upheld the Trump administration’s cancellation of the TPS status for the affected people, which the Biden administration first used in 2022.
The program granted protected status for those from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela while they awaited the outcome of their respective immigration proceedings.
“This program was abused by the previous administration to admit hundreds of thousands of poorly vetted illegal aliens into the United States,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday in a news release.
“The Biden administration lied to America,” McLaughlin said. “They allowed more than half a million poorly vetted aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela and their immediate family members to enter the United States through these disastrous parole programs.”
She said the Biden administration gave them “opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers” while forcing career civil servants to promote the programs even after fraud was identified.
The Biden administration “then blamed Republicans in Congress for the chaos that ensued and the crime that followed,” McLaughlin added.
She said those affected can use the CBP Home Mobile App to obtain travel assistance and a $1,000 exit bonus upon arrival in their home countries.
The self-deport notices started going out on the same day that the House of Representatives approved a measure ending the District of Columbia’s Sanctuary Values Amendment Act, the Washington Post reported.
The House voted 224-194 to require the nation’s capital to comply with federal immigration laws, requests for information on individuals’ respective immigration status and lawful detainer requests.
Eleven Democrats voted with Republicans to approve the resolution.