Federal Parole Program Bringing Migrants Into US, Vast Majority go to Florida

FILE - Recently arrived migrants wait in a garage area of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Marathon Border Patrol Station, Jan. 4, 2023, in Marathon, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File0)

WASHINGTON (TND) — While a vast majority of those fleeing desperate situations in their home countries are coming to the United States border, the Biden Administration has taken other measures to streamline the asylum process.

The Department of Homeland Security has instructed people to use the CBP One app, part of the humanitarian parole program for those coming from countries like Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, in which they’re brought by plane into the United States.

Todd Bensman, author of a recent report by the Center for Immigration Studies, crunched the numbers to see how many migrants were coming and where they were going after arrival.

Using available CBP data, he found 8,382 were sent to Los Angeles, and 21,964 were sent to Houston. The vast majority, about 326,000, were dropped off in Miami, Florida between October 2022 and February 2024.

Andrew Arthur, a Center for Immigration Studies fellow in law and policy, said the top concern about the program in general is the lack of knowledge about who these migrants are.

Cuba, Nicaragua, and then Venezuela all have governments that are openly hostile to the interest of the United States and Haiti doesn’t actually have a government at all right now, so our ability to vet those people is extremely limited,” Arthur said.

Governor Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Attorney General Ashley Moody are fighting the program in court, as members of Congress have also vowed to take action.

In an interview with Fox News Tuesday Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., said, “This is an absolute violation of our sovereignty and it’s unconstitutional.”

But a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump disagrees.

In a ruling last month, Judge Drew Tipton found that the 21 states, which include Florida and Texas, that filed a lawsuit against the program, failed to establish that they have standing to file the lawsuit, thus allowing the parole program to continue.

Florida of course isn’t alone. Cities like New York and Denver have all had to drastically cut their budgets that helped local residents, to deal with the tens of thousands of migrants who need housing, food and other assistance.

Meanwhile, the federal government is working diligently to quell a crisis now named as the top issue for voters in the 2024 Presidential election.