by Jason Hopkins
The Biden-Harris administration is reportedly preparing to resume a migrant flight program that was recently paused due to the discovery of rampant fraud.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could resume a mass-parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, more popularly known as CHNV, as soon as this week, NBC News reported. News of the program’s possible restart comes less than a month after an internal audit discovering massive potential fraud prompted DHS officials to pause the program entirely.
The CHNV parole program has allowed hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals to apply for asylum in their home countries and fly into the United States upon approval. More than a million foreign nationals are awaiting authorization through the program and roughly half a million have already flown into the U.S., according to the House Homeland Security Committee.
First launched for Venezuelans in October 2022, the program was later expanded in January 2023 to include Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans. The program allows foreign nationals two-year authorization into the U.S. and work permits, provided they have not previously entered the country illegally and pass other vetting processes.
However, a DHS spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation earlier this month that DHS placed the program on hold “out of an abundance of caution” due to the discovery of massive suspected fraud in applications.
An internal DHS report found that 100,948 CHNV forms had been filled out by just 3,218 sponsors; 24 of the 1,000 most used Social Security numbers by sponsors belonged to a dead person; and an IP address located in Tijuana, Mexico was used more than 1,300 times, among other red flag examples, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an immigration restrictionist organization that first obtained and published the audit’s findings in late July.
Additionally, numerous CHNV sponsors did not list their income, and those who did admitted that their salary did not meet financial threshold to support the number of parolees they intended to sponsor.
Following reporting of the potential fraud, a DHS spokesperson said the administration would undertake a review of supporter applications and refer all fraud to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Once the program resumes, applications for CHNV sponsors will be manually vetted in small numbers with bolstered vetting procedures, according to NBC News. Sponsors suspected of fraud will continue to be referred for investigation.
A source familiar with the CHNV program also told the DCNF that it may be resuming this week, but expressed doubt that its vetting processes have been adequately improved.
“We understand that DHS leadership has expressed a desire to quickly resolve issues so that confirmed cases may travel to the United States, although it’s unlikely that they have made any changes to their processes,” the source stated. “We are told that DHS may be meeting with the White House to provide an update today and seek to turn it on this week.”
A DHS spokesperson declined comment when contacted by the DCNF.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
