Salazar Urges Department of Homeland Security to Protect Paroled Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) sent a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Benjamine Huffman urging the Department to continue protecting Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians without criminal records and pending cases from deportation in response to the Department’s newly issued guidance to revoke the CHNV program.

The Cuban Adjustment Act and existing asylum law guarantees protection for Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians who applied for asylum through the proper legal channels. The United States should offer these potential asylees due process until their cases are properly adjudicated.

“Although President Biden originally created this new program on dubious legal grounds and brought individuals here without a plan for their future, they were still enrolled under programs offered to them,” wrote Rep. Salazar. “Therefore, I believe they should have the ability to see their applications out to rectify their legal status.”

Representative Salazar has been at the forefront of ensuring Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans, many of whom are escaping brutal socialist regimes, have the chance to apply for asylum or adjustment of status according to their situation. This includes advocating for Cubans to receive Parole in Place status if they were given I-220A forms at the southern border and an adjustment of status for Venezuelans, among other proposals.

Congresswoman Salazar proudly represents Florida’s 27th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, home to hundreds of thousands of Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, and Haitian Americans.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

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