Migrants in South Florida ponder future after Trump targets even those allowed into U.S.
For weeks, lawyers and advocates, worried about President Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown, have been telling asylum seekers and migrants temporarily paroled into the United States to keep their documents with them at all times in case they are stopped by overzealous cops or immigration agents.
On Friday, the importance of having what are commonly known as “Freedom papers” appeared to be minimal: Frightened migrants worried about their future as the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice directing immigration officials to review cases of people in the U.S. on humanitarian parole to determine whether to end their status and begin an expedited process to send the back to their home countries.
The directive affects over 1 million people, more than a half-million of them paroled into the U.S. under a temporary humanitarian parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela as well as Ukraine. The others affected are asylum-seekers admitted into the U.S. at the Mexican border who used an online platform known as CBP One. Both programs were launched by the Biden administration, and have been targeted by President Trump and Republicans.
“I would really like for them to rethink the decision because back home isn’t ready yet to receive me,” said Reginald, a Haiti native. “Things have gotten even worse since I left.”
Reginald said he doesn’t understand why individuals like him, who follow the law, are now being singled out.
“I came the legal way; I didn’t pass through another country or cross the border. I followed the instructions.” he said. “For me it’s injustice.”
A former teacher who lived and worked in gang-controlled neighborhoods, he said he was forced to leave Haiti after armed gangs stabbed him after one of several attacks in which his home being pillaged. The idea of being returned to a country where more than one1 million have been displaced by violence and gangs control more than 80% of the capital doesn’t sit well with him.
“Of course it worries me,” he said, asking that the Miami Herald not identify him by his full name. “And when I am hearing stories about what’s happening in other states, other cities, of them arresting people, it makes me more afraid. Even if you haven’t yet seen the action, it’s written down, it’s been announced.”
Immigration advocates and those who have been helping many of the newcomers say they do not know what to tell migrants seeking advice. They themselves are also worried about being targeted by the government.
“It’s very concerning,” Rivly Breus, founder of the Erzule Paul Foundation in Miami, said about the expanded enforcement. “It’s very frightening.”
Breus’ non-profit, founded to honor her immigrant grandmother, has helped clients from Haiti, Venezuela and Ukraine resettle in the U.S. either by sponsoring them in the humanitarian program or welcoming them after they’ve been paroled.
Ever since the news broke on Friday morning, her phone hasn’t stopped ringing, Breus said. Panicked migrants are asking what to do and saying they thought they were safe because they were walking around with their “freedom papers” — documents showing they either had work authorizations or had been legally admitted into the country.
“A lot of them are asking us if they should try to go to Canada, or if they should try to go to the smaller U.S. territories like the Virgin Islands,” she said. “We don’t have any answers.”
At least 35 of her clients came through the two-year humanitarian program, launched by President Biden to curb irregular migration, Breus said. Some 60% of her clients are Haitians, while 30% are Ukrainians and 10% Venezuelans. She is among thousands of Americans who opted to open their doors to complete strangers and sponsor them through an online platform.
Welcome.US, which initially connected Americans with Ukrainian refugees before expanding to other groups, said it has connected 2,958 beneficiaries through its Welcome Connect sponsorship platform that matched Americans interested in sponsoring people so they can apply for a humanitarian parole.
In a statement, Welcome.US said the administration’s action will affect the communities and employers who have welcomed the migrants, who were eligible for work authorization after arriving.
CEO Nazanin Ash said that Americans in all 50 states have played a unique role, serving as private sponsors and providing safety and support that have enabled people forced to flee their homes to rebuild their lives in the U.S.
“These newcomers have become valuable members of their new communities, contributing to local economies and businesses, becoming our new neighbors, colleagues, and, for many of us, members of our extended family,” she said. “This new directive puts vulnerable people who followed all the rules in grave danger and if carried out, will disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and newcomers they have sponsored.”
Humanitarian parole, Ash said, is a legal authority that has been used for nearly a century by Republican and Democratic presidents alike to respond to humanitarian crises. The Eisenhower administration used it to admit nearly 30,000 people fleeing Hungary after the collapse of the anti-Communist revolution, and from the 1960s through the 1990s, presidents of both parties used humanitarian parole to establish programs that helped hundreds of thousands people fleeing persecution in Cuba, Vietnam and other countries.
“Most recently, it has been used to help Afghans after the takeover of their country by the Taliban in 2021, Ukrainians after the Russian invasion in 2022, as well as Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans escaping authoritarianism and Haitians seeking safety as their government collapsed,” said Ash. The new directive, if carried out, “will disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and newcomers they have sponsored,” she added.
Breus, 33, said the majority of the people she has sponsored have been able to carve lives out in the U.S. They have found jobs, and even gone back to school.
“Coming here has been a real eye opener for them in terms of the rights that they missed out on in their respective countries,” she said. “There’s also the opportunity to go to school and to work. A lot of our newcomers thought they had to pick and choose, but I told them, no, it’s not a question of picking and choosing. You know, you can do both if you really want to.”
Farah Larrieux, a community advocate who has been holding listening sessions in Haitian-Creole with migrants and organizations that assist them with the pending immigration changes, said people are afraid. Organizations in her network, she said, have been sharing stories aboiuyt how some have threatened to commit suicide if they are forced to return to their troubled homelands.
“This is evil,” said Larrieux, co-founder of THELAR Management Group. “ They never address the roots of migration. Why are these people coming here?
“We’re gonna deport people, and then you ignore the reality,” she added. “If you’re doing a survey and ask these people, ‘Do you really want to stay in the United States?’ They will tell you, ‘If my country has good governance, economic opportunities, just stability and peace and security, I will go back home. It’s not a matter of choice. We are forced. We have been pushed out from our country.’
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 6:25 PM.
