The Trump administration has enacted a pause on all immigration applications filed by migrants allowed into the U.S. under certain Biden-era programs, citing fraud and security concerns. The application hold will remain in place indefinitely while government officials work to identify potential cases of fraud and enhance vetting procedures to mitigate concerns related to national security and public safety.
While the exact number of affected migrants is unclear, the hold on applications applies to several Biden administration programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of foreigners to come to the U.S. legally through an immigration law known as parole. That law empowers the U.S. government to welcome foreigners quickly on humanitarian or public benefit grounds.
Because those allowed into the U.S. under these programs were only given temporary work permits and deportation protections that typically last for two years, many of them applied for other immigration benefits, including Temporary Protected Status and asylum.
But under the internal USCIS directive, officials will no longer be able to process any applications for these programs or any other benefit if the requests were filed by migrants who arrived in the U.S. under the targeted Biden administration policies.