The DHS data shows that during an 8 month stretch from January through August 2023, roughly 200,000 migrants flew into the U.S. via the program, with 80% of them, (161,562) arriving in the state of Florida in four cities: Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, & Tampa.
The top 15 cities migrants flew into, & the numbers during this 8 month window, are below.
1) Miami, FL: 91,821
2) Ft. Lauderdale, FL: 60,461
3) New York City, NY: 14,827
4) Houston, TX: 7,923
5) Orlando, FL: 6,043
6) Los Angeles, CA: 3,271
7) Tampa, FL: 3,237
8) Dallas, TX: 2,256
9) San Francisco, CA: 2,052
10) Atlanta, GA: 1,796
11) Newark, NJ: 1,498
12) Washington, D.C.: 1,472
13) Chicago, IL: 496
14) Las Vegas, NV: 483
15) Austin, TX: 171
I've attached the raw DHS data provided in the subpoena response showing all of the locations the migrants flew into during these 8 months in the chart below. DHS also revealed in the subpoena response that as of October 2023, there was a backlog about 1.6 million applicants waiting for DHS approval to fly to the U.S. via the parole program. In response to the DHS data revealing Florida received the overwhelming majority of migrant flights during the 8 month window, FL. Gov.
@RonDeSantis's office provided FOX the following statement: "Biden's parole program is unlawful, and constitutes an abuse of constitutional authority.
Florida is currently suing Biden to shut it down, and we believe that we will prevail." -
DHS also wrote in the subpoena response that "All individuals paroled into the United States are, by definition, inadmissible, including those paroled under the CHNV processes." Congressman @RepMarkGreen, Chairman of @HomelandGOP, told FOX in response:
"What they're essentially saying is that the laws passed by Congress have said that these people are inadmissible, and so they created a program to try to get around those laws. The thing is, they don't have the authority to create such a program. By their own admission, they're breaking the law."
Reminder: The CHNV parole program, created by the Biden admin in January 2023, allows up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, & Venezuela to bypass the southern border entirely, and fly into the U.S. directly from foreign countries for a two year humanitarian parole grant if they have a sponsor in the U.S., and are vetted/approved for travel. The flights are commercial, and are not funded by taxpayers. The program recipient or their sponsor pays for it, and the parole grant allows the recipient to apply to work. The Biden admin considers the program a "lawful pathway", and the migrants flying into the U.S. via the program are not included in the southern border numbers.
According to CBP data, at least 404,000 migrants have flown into the U.S. via the CHNV parole program since it first began:
154,000 Haitians
95,000 Venezuelans
84,000 Cubans
69,000 Nicaraguans
So far, legal challenges to this controversial parole program have failed in court. A Texas lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year after a judge ruled the state didn't have standing to sue. More lawsuits are pending.
The Biden admin says the program is a lawful use of executive parole authority. They consider the program a success, and believe it provides an incentive to not cross the US border illegally. The numbers of Haitians and Cubans crossing illegally have steeply fallen as a result of the program.
Critics say the program essentially waves a magic wand to mass import hundreds of thousands of otherwise inadmissible migrants into the US, with the likelihood of them ever leaving or being deported if they stay past the permitted parole grant being remarkably low.
