The United States opened the process so that citizens of Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti can request a humanitarian permit to legally enter their territory, as they have been doing with Venezuelans since October.
An official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Blas Nunez Netoexplained in a telephone press conference that in this case the US embassies are not involved, since it is a procedure that can be done online and all that is needed is access to the network and a sponsor in US territory.
Núñez Neto stressed that Citizenship and Immigration Service staff (USCIS) You already have “trained and ready” staff to receive applications from Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians and assured that the system has the capacity to process 30,000 monthly permits.
Process is initiated by a sponsor
The acting undersecretary for Border Policy and Immigration at DHS specified that the process has to be started by the sponsor in the US. and that once it is confirmed by the US authorities, then the possible beneficiaries can start the procedures.
The person in charge of the DHS emphasized that once all the procedures have been completed and with a travel authorization from the US, recipients must purchase their own ticket to US territory.
Once they get humanitarian permission, those affected may reside in the US for two years with permission to work.
Núñez Neto warned that those who enter the United States irregularly “will not be eligible” for this process and will be subject to expulsion to Mexico.
With the inclusion of Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, The program that the United States launched last October to deliver 24,000 permits to Venezuelan migrants is expanded and, at the same time, deport to Mexico those who cross the border without permission.
They ask not to risk their lives by sea
Given the “significant increase” in maritime migration, Núñez Neto asked the migrants not to venture into the sea because they risk their lives.
“We are seeing, as you have seen this past weekend, a significant increase in maritime immigration from Cuba and Haiti that is putting the lives of migrants at risk because the dangerous situation at sea is really impressive,” he said.