DHS will block relatives of U.S. citizens and green card holders from entering the country while awaiting visas, drawing sharp condemnation from immigrant rights groups
The Trump administration moved Friday to sharply curtail legal immigration pathways, announcing the termination of family reunification parole programs that have allowed relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to enter the country while awaiting green cards.
The decision comes as new reporting from The New York Times revealed that the Transportation Security Administration has been providing immigration authorities with the names of airline passengers — a disclosure civil liberties advocates say deepens concerns about surveillance and immigration enforcement coordination under President Donald Trump.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it is ending all categorical family reunification parole programs for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, replacing them with a discretionary, case-by-case system. DHS confirmed that a formal notice will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, with the policy taking effect January 14.
The move affects more than 10,000 people who entered the United States lawfully under programs designed to keep families together during lengthy visa processing delays, according to immigrant advocacy organizations.
“A deliberate effort to strip people of legal status”
Human rights groups reacted swiftly, warning that the change will destabilize families and push immigrants who followed the rules into legal limbo.
“This outrageous decision to pull the rug out from under thousands of people who came to the U.S. lawfully to reunite with their families is shocking,” said Anwen Hughes, senior director of legal strategy for refugee programs at Human Rights First.
Hughes described the policy as part of a broader campaign to revoke legal protections for immigrants already vetted and approved by the federal government.
“Yet again, this administration is taking extraordinary measures to delegalize as many people as possible — even when they have done everything the U.S. government asked of them,” she said.
She pointed to previous Trump administration actions, including efforts announced in March to terminate humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of migrants, ongoing legal challenges targeting birthright citizenship now before the U.S. Supreme Court, and what advocates describe as escalating threats to revoke lawful status without advance notice.
Families caught in the middle
Family reunification parole programs were created to prevent prolonged family separation caused by multi-year visa backlogs, particularly for immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean. Under the new policy, relatives of U.S. citizens and green card holders must now remain outside the country while waiting for visas — a process that can take years.
Immigration lawyers warn the change could expose families to violence, economic hardship, and renewed displacement, especially in countries already facing political instability or humanitarian crises.
DHS did not provide estimates for how many families will be affected or outline what criteria will be used for the newly discretionary parole reviews.
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