DHS Announces Family Reunification Parole Processes for Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

WASHINGTON: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on July 7 announced the implementation of new family reunification parole (FRP) processes for Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s successful combination of expanded lawful pathways and strengthened enforcement to reduce irregular migration. The FRP processes promote family unity and are part of the comprehensive measures announced in April by DHS and the Department of State.

The new processes are for nationals from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras whose family members are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and who have received approval to join their family in the United States. Specifically, nationals of these countries can be considered for parole on a case-by-case basis for a period of up to three years while they wait to apply to become a lawful permanent resident.

“These new processes promote family unity and provide lawful pathways consistent with our laws and our values,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The Department has proven that the expansion of safe, orderly, and lawful pathways, combined with strong enforcement, is effective in reducing dangerous, irregular migration to the United States.”

Certain nationals of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras who are beneficiaries of an approved Form I-

130, Petition for Alien Relative may be eligible to be considered for parole under the new processes. Qualifying beneficiaries must be outside the United States, meet all requirements, including screening and vetting and medical requirements, and must not have already received an immigrant visa.

The processes begin with the Department of State issuing an invitation to the petitioning U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member whose Form I-130 on behalf of a

Colombian, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, or Honduran beneficiary has been approved. Beneficiaries awaiting an immigrant visa could include certain children and siblings of U.S. citizens and certain spouses and children of permanent residents. The invited petitioner can then initiate the process by filing a request on behalf of the beneficiary and eligible family members to be considered for advance travel authorization and parole.

The new processes allow for parole only on a discretionary, case-by-case, and temporary basis upon a demonstration of urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit, as well as a demonstration that the beneficiary warrants a favorable exercise of discretion.

Individuals paroled into the United States under these processes will generally be considered for parole for up to three years and will be eligible to request employment authorization while they wait for their immigrant visa to become available. When their immigrant visa continued on page 16 statute’s application.

The case of U.S. v. Hansen involved the prosecution of a fraudster whom the government charged with violating the “encouragement and inducement” statute after he scammed immigrants by promising them a path to U.S. citizenship through adult adoptions. Unfortunately for the victims, this path does not exist.

In fighting the charges, the defendant argued the “encourage or induce” subsection was unconstitutional because in its effort to regulate unprotected speech—like criminal conduct—the law risked infringing on protected speech.

All people in the United States hold rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including the protection of freedom of speech. Only a small number of exceptions to those protections apply, including fraud and speech integral to criminal conduct, which the government may regulate. The specific exceptions are considered unprotected speech.

Many immigrant advocacy organizations agreed with this argument, saying the statute could impact attorneys, doctors, pastors, and even law enforcement officers who may have to look past individuals’ immigration status to provide legal advice, assist in medical emergencies, or even solve crimes. Each of those situations might involve someone “encouraging” an undocumented immigrant to “reside in the United States,” even if temporarily—such as to apply for an immigration benefit, recover from an injury, or to testify at a criminal trial as a witness.

These concerns about the law’s reach stem from fears about how the law could be applied in a notoriously broken system. As undocumented individuals are often criminalized for their mere presence, laws like this one provide additional vehicles for political actors to threaten mixed status families. And, as noted in

Rescheduling of Biometrics

Appointments/continued from page 6 online account can reschedule most requests for biometric services appointments without having to call the Contact Center. The new tool, however, cannot be used to reschedule an appointment that already has been rescheduled two or more times, is within 12 hours, or that has already passed.

The biometric services appointment rescheduling tool can be accessed via a USCIS online account regardless of whether the pending case was submitted online or by mail. Benefit requestors and accredited representatives will still have the option to call the USCIS Contact Center to reschedule an appointment, but USCIS strongly encourages users to use the new tool to save time, increase efficiency, and reduce call volume to the USCIS Contact Center.

USCIS is also issuing guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to explain that the agency may consider an untimely request to reschedule a biometric services appointment and the effect of failing to appear for an appointment, and to the amicus brief filed on behalf of religious organizations in this case, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a watchlist of individuals who assist migrants.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court was not convinced by these arguments. In its decision rejecting the challenge, the Court continued to restrict the type of statutes found to be “overbroad” under the First Amendment. Like in the 2008 case of U.S. v. Williams, the Court found that a statute is overbroad if it prohibits a substantial amount of protected speech in pursuit of a legitimate purpose. This interpretation marked a departure from previous cases holding that even the possibility of chilling protected speech was sufficient to overturn a criminal statute.

In the Hansen case, the Court justified upholding the constitutionality of the law by clarifying that the terms “encourage or induce” require intentional conduct, a narrower reading of the terms than the government had previously argued at the lower court. For example, the Court’s opinion noted that criminal solicitation is the intentional encouragement of an unlawful act, not just any encouragement. And “facilitation” requires the wrongdoer to intend to further a crime.

In other words, the Court acknowledged that “encourages or induces” inherently requires a certain level of intent

In narrowing the definition of “encourages or induces,” the Court dismissed advocates’ concern that the law may apply to protected speech, arguing that such cases would be rare. In support of upholding the constitutionality of the law, the Court champions prosecutorial discretion as a solution, where prosecutors choose whether to charge an individual or dismiss a case and purportedly only the worst offenders are prosecuted.

But as Justice Jackson wrote in the dissenting opinion, “it makes little sense for the number of unconstitutional prosecutions to be the litmus test for whether speech is being chilled by a facially overbroad statute. The number of people who have not exercised their right to speak out of fear of prosecution is, quite frankly, unknowable.”

Despite the Court’s assurances, Justice Jackson’s concerns remain unaddressed. Additional concerns arise about how the law will be applied in the future. As such, the “encouragement or inducement” law continues to be a tool with the potential to further victimize undocumented immigrants in the United States and the communities that support them.l

Kelly Chauvin, Summer 2023 Legal Intern for the American Immigration Council

becomes available, they may apply to become a lawful permanent resident.

The Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security, in his discretion, to parole noncitizens into the United States temporarily on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. The parole authority has long been used to establish FRP processes administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, which was established in 2007, and the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, which was established in 2014.l explain how the agency considers a timely request to reschedule a biometric services appointment for “good cause.” Good cause exists when the reschedule request provides sufficient reason for the benefit requestor’s inability to appear on the scheduled date. Sufficient reasons may include, but are not limited to:

•Illness, medical appointment, or hospitalization;

•Previously planned travel;

•Significant life events such as a wedding, funeral, or graduation ceremony;

•Inability to obtain transportation to the appointment location;

•Inability to obtain leave from employ- ment or caregiver responsibilities; and •Late delivered or undelivered biometric services appointment notice.

USCIS only accepts untimely rescheduling requests made to the USCIS Contact Center and does not accept untimely requests to reschedule by mail or in-person at a USCIS office or through the myUSCIS online rescheduling tool.

USCIS only accepts untimely rescheduling requests made to the USCIS Contact Center and does not accept untimely requests to reschedule by mail or in-person at a USCIS office or through the myUSCIS online rescheduling tool.l forms of retaliation.

“This important partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will not only help to protect the integrity of our labor investigations, but also the safety of vulnerable New York workers,” Governor Hochul said. “New York is proud to lead the nation in worker protections, and we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure that all workers enjoy their right to fairness and safety in the workplace – regardless of their immigration status.”

Undocumented workers involved in workplace labor investigations by the NYSDOL may submit, or have an advocate or attorney submit on their behalf, a Statement of Interest request to NYSDOL supporting prosecutorial discretion from DHS. The Worker Protection Unit will evaluate the request and render a determination within 30 days. Separately, the worker would need to submit a concurrent filing for deferred action to DHS. Each application is reviewed by DHS and, if approved, the worker may be granted deferred action, which protects them from removal for two years, or longer in the case of ongoing investigations or subsequent payouts from employers. New York State has granted 32 Statements of Interests since the launch of this process, impacting more than 100 workers.

Once a Statement of Interest letter has been accepted by DHS, all workers at a worksite impacted by the investigation are eligible to apply for deferred action. For more information about the process, visit the prosecutorial discretion webpage.

New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, “Fear of retaliation is paralyzing for any worker, but it is especially dreadful for immigrants. At the Department of Labor, we investigate all complaints, regardless of immigration status. We believe that all workers have rights in every workplace across New York State. If any worker is a victim of or a witness to labor violations, please report it to us. We can help.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Undocumented immigrants contribute to New York State’s economy and deserve to have workplace protections regardless of their immigration status. I support Governor Hochul’s efforts to implement safeguards for undocumented workers and hold employers accountable.”

Representative Jerry Nadler said, “All workers deserve to be free from workplace exploitation and retaliation, and I applaud Governor Hochul’s announcement today which will help safeguard New York’s undocumented workers throughout labor investigations. The NYSDOL’s partnership with federal partners at DHS will bring more unscrupulous employment practices out of the darkness as workers can be assured they will not face retaliation for speaking up about the conditions they face.”

Representative Paul Tonko said, “Without necessary protections in place, exploitative employers are too often able to prevent undocumented workers from speaking out against illegal or dangerous workplace conditions with threats of deportation, thereby undermining the rights and protections of all workers. No worker should be forced to remain silent for fear of retribution. I’m grateful these federal measures I supported are being implemented to protect immigrant workers and ensure better standards and a safe work environment for all.”

Representative Adriano Espaillat said, "I commend Governor Hochul on today's announcement to reaffirm our efforts to ensure protections of undocumented workers from the threat of deportation and other forms of immigration-related retaliation during investigations of labor rights violations from dishonest employers in the state. Many of these workers are afraid to report such violations in fear that they will become targeted for removal or other threats as a result of their actions. We stand united to help safeguard vulnerable workers and to hold unscrupulous employers accountable.”

This is the latest in a series of efforts by Governor Hochul to protect and support undocumented residents across New York State, and prevent unscrupulous employers from using removal to evade state labor laws. In May, the Governor called on the federal government to expedite work authorization for asylum seekers. In February, Governor Hochul announced the expansion of the New York State Professional Pathways for High-Skilled Immigrants Program, which helps new Americans find jobs that match their skills and experience. In October 2021, she signed legislation protecting undocumented immigrants from threats to report their immigration status.

NYSDOL’s Division of Labor Standards protects all workers, including those who are undocumented or paid off the books. For more information, visit the Division of Labor Standards website. Additionally, NYSDOL’s Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs (DIPA) ensures the Department’s services, programs, and protections are available to all workers, including people who work in or move to New York from another country.l