House Republicans, led by Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, are pressing the Biden administration over its program that flew 386,000 migrants directly into U.S. cities from high-risk countries, including two that are on the "Do Not Travel" list of the State Department.
Weber sent a letter co-signed by 17 Republicans to President Joe Biden and the impeached Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, to inquire about the administration's "advanced travel authorizations" program.
The program allows immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — dubbed the CHNV parole program by the Department of Homeland Security — to use the CBP One app to apply for permission to fly into the U.S., where they then apply for parole.
Haiti and Venezuela are on the State Department's "Level 4, Do Not Travel" list.
"Given your complicity in the worst border crisis in American history, we should not have been surprised to learn that your Administration has created a new avenue for foreign nationals to distort our nation’s immigration process," Weber wrote.
"It is appalling that this Administration advertises 'advance travel authorizations' that allow for illegal aliens to fly directly to American cities of their choosing, only to be released under the corrupted asylum parole program."
Weber's letter cited 320,000 migrants who came in through the program in 2023. DHS sent the Washington Examiner updated numbers, showing 386,000 migrants have entered the U.S. via the app through February 2024.
Further, Weber asserted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials refused to provide information about "the departure airports used in those countries or the airports of arrival in the United States."
"Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas are consistently sidestepping the rule of law to assist and guide unvetted illegal aliens into our communities, and now helping them to fly directly to American cities," Weber told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
"This poses not only a national security risk but also raises serious questions about this Administration. ... Secretly flying unvetted illegal aliens into our cities at the expense of the basic safety of the American people has no place in America."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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