Most of the migrants who qualify to fly into the United States under the Biden administration's four-country mass parole program are landing in Florida, according to Department of Homeland Security documents subpoenaed by the House Homeland Security Committee.
The committee released documents Tuesday covering approximately 200,000 migrant arrivals between January and August 2023 showing four Florida cities were among the top 15 places where migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela are coming, reports the New York Post.
Under the administration's parole policy, migrants from the four countries can qualify if they obtain a U.S. sponsor, pass a background check, and can demonstrate that they should be allowed parole based on urgent humanitarian reasons or present a significant benefit to the public.
Those granted parole are then allowed to fly into designated ports of entry, where they are given authorization to remain in the United States for two years and get work permits.
More than 400,000 migrants have been processed for the program. According to the figures released Tuesday, the top 15 cities for entry were:
- Miami, Florida: 91,821.
- Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: 60,461.
- New York City, New York: 14,827.
- Houston, Texas: 7,923.
- Orlando, Florida: 6,043.
- Los Angeles, California: 3,271.
- Tampa, Florida: 3,237.
- Dallas, Texas: 2,256.
- San Francisco, California: 2,052.
- Atlanta, Georgia: 1,796.
- Newark, New Jersey: 1,498.
- Washington, D.C.: 1,472.
- Chicago, Illinois: 496.
- Las Vegas, Neveda: 483.
- Austin, Texas: 171.
- Miami International Airport: 3.
The committee said the documents further showed that as of October 2023, there are approximately 1.6 million migrants still waiting for approval to enter the United States through the parole program.
"These documents expose the egregious lengths Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas will go to ensure inadmissible aliens reach every corner of the country, from Orlando and Atlanta to Las Vegas and San Francisco," House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement.
"Secretary Mayorkas' CHNV parole program is an unlawful sleight of hand used to hide the worsening border crisis from the American people," Green continued. "Implementing a program that allows otherwise inadmissible aliens to fly directly into the U.S. –– not for significant public benefit or urgent humanitarian reasons as the Immigration and Nationality Act mandates –– has been proven an impeachable offense."
Florida and several other states have sued the administration to block the parole program, claiming that it is another way to allow visas.
The parole plan is open to 30,000 people a month from the four countries involved, and according to Customs and Border Protection, the migrants must make their own travel arrangements.