Alejandro Mayorkas, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, has once again struck back in his guerrilla campaign against U.S. immigration restrictions. The White House announced that it would accept up to 30,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua, per calendar month. This is in addition to from eachof the four countries.
While Title 42’s future is important, media attention has failed to cover President Joe Biden’s latest border security flimflam. The administration claims that it is protecting our borders by diverting illegal immigrants into Mayorkas’s “orderly, lawful paths” to the United States. These pathways are not lawful nor orderly.
Congress must respond. The Biden administration must remain within the existing immigration law. Congress can ask for new visa categories and higher refugee numbers if necessary. Many Republicans in the House have called for an impeachment motion against Secretary Mayorkas, who failed to protect the border and neglect constitutional duties. Mayorkas’s failures to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act should also be included, particularly his misuse of Section 212(d),(5)(A) of the law for humanitarian parole authority. However, defunding illegal and unconstitutional express immigration programs must be a priority.
Mayorkas was attempting to attract illegal migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Nicaragua to use his new pathways. The secretary stated that DHS and the Department of Justice will issue a proposal rule that would allow individuals to circumvent existing, lawful pathways to legal migration and fail to seek asylum protection in a country they have traveled to get to the United States [emphasis on added]” unless they are eligible for “exceptions that may be specified.”
A Secretary of Homeland Security who is worthy of his office would do such an effort against all illegal migrants, and not just those who don’t sign up for Mayorkas-invented immigration pathways. The secretary’s talk of homeland security is just a smokescreen. His real goal is to open America’s front doors to a new northbound diaspora, primarily from the Caribbean.
Here is the Department of State total for U.S. immigrant Visas typically issued to nationals of the following four countries: Cuba (9.752), Haiti (16.419), Nicaragua (2.075), and Venezuela (2.917). These are the yearly totals for 2017, which is the last year representative of normal immigrant processing prior to Trump’s closure of consular operations in Havana because of “sonic boom” fears.
Mayorkas’s new immigration quotas could result in an astounding 360,000 per year from each of these four countries. This would be a destabilizing and unprecedented increase in immigration that will overwhelm the already struggling communities of immigrants. The United States would have to be shaken by the new wave of 1.4million immigrants each year from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. This will also cause chaos in the local economies and put pressure on schools and labor markets.
Before the Biden administration opened our borders, the United States received from all countries around the globe a little more than a million legal immigrants annually. This was before the “family reunification migration” process, which has driven the increase in the U.S. population to over one million. The number of foreign-born residents in the United States has reached 48 million, which is 14.6 percent. This figure is approaching record levels.
Mayorkas is determined to do even more. To that end, he abuses the humanitarian parole exemption of U.S. immigration law. This exception was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow for the admission of a select few foreigners who would otherwise not be eligible for a visa but need to travel in an emergency situation (such as to receive medical care or testify in court). Mayorkas can use this exception to create new express immigration programs. He can “legalize” hundreds of thousands of foreigners as “parolee migrants,” and not require that they be granted visas or processed as refugees. Mayorkas does not recognize any restrictions on this bogus parole authority and, so far, neither Congress or the courts have taken action to stop him.
DHS grants these parolee-migrants legal status and work authorization immediately upon their arrival on U.S. soil. They are unlikely to return to their home countries. The secretary misleadly claims that they will stay for “two years.” But, no one would expect them to. Mayorkas’s actions constitute an unconstitutional power grab. It is the equivalent to executive branch officials spending funds Congress never appropriated.
Under the cover of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, DHS Secretary rolled out his first major express immigration program. The program is known as ” Unifying for Ukraine” and has already brought to the U.S. over 100,000 Ukrainian parolees-migrants. DHS announced that the program has no limit on admissions, and will continue as long as the White House wishes.
DHS opened admissions to Venezuelans in January. Mayorkas extends the program to Cubans and Nicaraguans. These parolee-migrants can fly directly to U.S. Airports. However, he maintains that they must pass rigorous security screening; (2) have a supporter in America who will provide financial or other support; (3) comply with all vaccinations and other health requirements.
Mayorkas’s claim is a mockery to the U.S. laws and regulations regarding migrants processing for immigrant visas. It merits closer inspection.
U.S. visa applicants are required to stay in their country during U.S. security database screenings. They will also be interviewed by U.S. diplomats at consulates and embassies to confirm their identity, family history, and work history. U.S. officials require applicants for immigrant visas to prove they can make a living without being charged with any criminal offenses, have a complete medical exam, and submit to a thorough medical examination. These procedures, while imperfect, provide significant checks and controls against widespread corruption in many immigrant-sending nations.
There is so much demand for migration to the United States that U.S. officials routinely find many unqualified applicants when conducting in-country screening. This is especially true in countries with high levels of fraud like Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua, Nicaragua and Cuba. State Department investigators are regularly on the ground to expose criminal plots and widespread corruption among local officials. The fraudulent securing of U.S. visas can be a lucrative business, often tied to human smuggling networks operating in the United States.
Mayorkas’s program allows DHS in Washington to notify parolee-migrants via email that their permission has been granted. They are not pre-interviewed or have their documents checked in their home countries before they travel. This happens only once they arrive at a U.S. port.
Mayorkas’s slow processing begins when a U.S. citizen “supporter” declares online that he will support the parolee/migrant through a Declaration of Financial Support (Form I-134) Anyone can sign up online to become a supporter, whether they are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. The supporter is not required to contribute any minimum amount nor to have any relationship with parolees-migrants. The immigration lawyers note that these “supporters” are not legally obligated to pay any support expenses.
Mayorkas ignores significant security flaws, which is perhaps the most important. Mayorkas claims that DHS has been given the task of pre-screening the paroleemigrant’s identity in its database. This is the same name-check process DHS uses in its ESTA Travel Program through which DHS vets short-term visitors from non-visa-exempt countries.
This security vetting program is built on identity information-sharing agreements Washington makes with trusted partner countries. These countries share their classified criminal and terrorist watchlists to DHS. However, the four countries are not U.S. allies as the Cuban Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Venezuelan governments openly support Marxist regimes. While Haitian authorities lack the security capability to create reliable watchlists, these countries are clearly not U.S. partners.
DHS does not have the personnel capacity to either independently vet parolee-migrants in these countries or create its own watchlists for specific countries. Security vulnerabilities include the inability to identify and verify documents while DHS officials interview parolees-migrants at U.S. ports.
Mayorkas’s express immigration policies leave wide-open possibilities for belligerent governments, such as Nicaragua and Venezuela, to send into the U.S. unwelcome criminals, agents provocateurs, intelligence operatives, and agents provocateur, much like Fidel Castro in his day to severely harm American interests. Castro devotees like Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela can be expected to pull off the same tricksterry.
Mayorkas plan will allow parolee-migrants who are approved to bring their spouses and minor children under 21. This creates imposter opportunities for identity subterfuge as family document fraud is a common problem in these four countries. DHS is unable to verify family relationships in these four countries due to a lack of staffing, which opens the door for more serious abuse.
Mayorkas’s plan eliminates the requirement for lawful immigrants to undergo a physical examination before they travel to the United States. This procedure is checked in advance by American Embassy staff before issuing immigrant visas. Mayorkas’s parolees-migrants will have to show only paper forms that they have been vaccinated. This opens the door to more document fraud.
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Mayorkas’s express immigration program will not only unleash unsustainable numbers, but also become more corrupted, fraudulent, and falsely identified than the current visa-based immigration system.
During the upcoming budget negotiations and debt ceiling negotiations, Congress should block any DHS or State Department funds used to provide public interest parole for any migrants in violation of INA Section 212 (d)(5)(A). The defunding should include all expenses including salaries and programmatic funds or fees collected by agencies.
Mayorkas can be stopped by using the power of money. Mayorkas can be impeached at a later date.
