US Weighing Humanitarian Parole Program for Venezuelan Migrants - Reports

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) - The Biden administration is considering a new humanitarian parole program intended to reduce the number of Venezuelan migrants illegally entering the United States, the New York Times reported, citing two administration officials familiar with the matter.

The proposed program would operate similarly to a humanitarian parole program offered to Ukrainians, which allows migrants to stay in the US temporarily on a two-year parole period if they have a US sponsor willing to provide financial support, the report said on Tuesday.

However, the details of the program remain unclear, the report said.

The policy proposal comes amid a significant inflow of migrants from Venezuela to the United States, with over 150,000 Venezuelans apprehended at the US southwestern border between October 2021 and August 2022, the report said.

The United Nations estimates that over 6.8 million Venezuelans have fled the country, the report added.

An absence of diplomatic relations between the US and Venezuela hinders authorities’ ability to repatriate Venezuelans who turn themselves in to border officials, causing the US to grant most migrants temporary permission to stay while they await immigration court proceedings, according to the report.