Notice.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is publishing this notice to notify the public that it will no longer provide special consideration of parole for certain individuals denied refugee status in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras under the Central American Minors (CAM) Parole Program.

Applicable August 16, 2017.

Maura Nicholson, Deputy Chief, International Operations Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 3300, Washington, DC 20529, Telephone 202-272-1892. (This is not a toll-free number.)

On December 1, 2014, DHS and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that the U.S. Government would allow certain minors in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to be considered for refugee status in the United States.[1] This program, known as the CAM Refugee Program, allows certain parents lawfully present in the United States to request a refugee resettlement interview for unmarried children under 21 years of age, and certain other eligible family members, in Guatemala, El Salvador, or Honduras. The parent in the United States must be lawfully present [2] in order to request that his or her child be provided access to the program and considered for refugee resettlement. In general, under current immigration laws, only lawful permanent residents and U.S. citizens can file family-based immigrant visa petitions. Therefore, many of the qualifying parents under the program are unable to file an immigrant petition for their in-country relatives. INA 204(a); 8 U.S.C. 1154(a). As a result, most of the beneficiaries of the program do not have another process under our immigration laws to enter the United States. On November 15, 2016, the program was expanded to include other qualifying relatives.[3]

Qualifying children who were denied refugee status under the CAM Refugee Program were considered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of DHS, for parole into the United States on a case-by-case basis under the CAM Parole Program. A qualifying child's accompanying parent, sibling, or child who was also denied refugee status was also considered for parole into the United States on a case-by-case basis under the program. If USCIS found a child to be ineligible for refugee status, the decision notice informed the child of whether he or she had been instead conditionally approved for parole into the United States under the CAM Parole Program.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) confers upon the Secretary of Homeland Security the discretionary authority to parole applicants for admission into the United States “temporarily under such conditions as [DHS] may prescribe only on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit,” regardless of the individuals' admissibility. INA sec. 212(d)(5)(A); 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A); see 8 CFR 212.5(a) and (c) through (e) (discretionary authority for establishing conditions of parole and for terminating parole). Accordingly, parole determinations are made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account each individual's unique circumstances.

In general, if USCIS favorably exercises its discretion to authorize parole, either USCIS or DOS issues Start Printed Page 38927travel documents to enable the applicant to travel to a U.S. port-of-entry and request parole from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to join his or her family member. The ultimate determination whether to parole an individual into the United States is made by CBP officers upon the individual's arrival at a U.S. port of entry.

Unlike refugee status, parole does not lead to any immigration status. Parole also does not constitute an admission to the United States. INA secs. 101(a)(13)(B), 212(d)(5)(A); 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(13)(B), 1182(d)(5)(A). Once an individual is paroled into the United States, the parole allows the individual to stay temporarily in the United States and to apply for employment authorization. See8 CFR 274a.12(c)(11). The alien may stay in the United States unless and until the parole is terminated. See 8 CFR 212.5(e).

The CAM Parole Program was established based on the Secretary's discretionary parole authority and the broad authority to administer the immigration laws. SeeINA secs. 103(a), 212(d)(5); 8 U.S.C. 1103(a), 1182(d)(5). DHS is rescinding the discretionary CAM parole policy, which was instituted for “significant public benefit” reasons, of automatically considering parole for all individuals found ineligible for refugee status under the in-country refugee program in Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador. This discretionary change in policy does not preclude such individuals from applying for parole consideration independent of the CAM program by filing USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, consistent with the instructions for that form. Parole will only be issued on a case-by-case basis and only where the applicant demonstrates an urgent humanitarian or a significant public benefit reason for parole and that applicant merits a favorable exercise of discretion. Any alien may request parole to travel to the United States, but an alien does not have a right to parole.

As of August 16, 2017, USCIS will no longer consider or authorize parole under the CAM Parole Program. In addition, USCIS will notify individuals who have been conditionally approved for parole under this program and who have not yet traveled that the program has been terminated and their conditional approval for parole has been rescinded. As noted above, such individuals may apply for parole consideration independent of the CAM program by filing USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, consistent with the instructions for that form.