[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 157 (Wednesday, August 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38926-38927]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16828]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
[CIS No. 2604-17; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2017-0003]
Termination of the Central American Minors Parole Program
AGENCY: Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: 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.
DATES: Applicable August 16, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See DOS fact sheet, ``In-Country Refugee/Parole Program for
Minors in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras With Parents Lawfully
Present in the United States'' (Nov. 14, 2014), available at https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/prm/releases/factsheets/2014/234067.htm; see
also U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Web page, ``In-
Country Refugee/Parole Processing for Minors in Honduras, El
Salvador, and Guatemala (Central American Minors--CAM),'' available
at https://www.uscis.gov/CAM.
\2\ ``Lawful presence'' refers to presence in the United States
within a period of stay authorized by DHS and during which unlawful
presence is not accrued for purposes of potential inadmissibility
under INA sec. 212(a)(9)(B)-(C); 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)-(C). Note
that an individual may be ``lawfully present'' in the United States
without necessarily having ``lawful status'' (e.g., an individual
granted deferred enforced departure, see 8 CFR 274a.12(a)(11)). See,
e.g., Chaudry v. Holder, 705 F.3d 289, 292 (7th Cir. 2013)
(``[Unlawful presence and unlawful status are distinct concepts . .
. . It is entirely possible for aliens to be lawfully present (i.e.,
in a ``period of stay authorized by the [Secretary]'') even though
their lawful status has expired.''). Under the program, qualifying
parents include individuals who are at least 18 years of age and
lawfully present in the United States in the following categories:
lawful permanent resident status, temporary protected status,
parolee, deferred action, deferred enforced departure, or
withholding of removal.
\3\ Beginning with the program's inception in December 2014,
additional qualifying relatives have been able to gain access along
with the qualifying child. Unmarried children of the qualifying
child who are under 21 years of age can be included on the
qualifying child's refugee application as a derivative beneficiary.
The in-country parent of the qualifying child can also qualify for
access to the CAM program if the in-country parent is part of the
same household and economic unit as the qualifying child and is the
legal spouse of the qualifying parent who is lawfully present in the
United States. If the in-country parent who is legally married to
the qualifying parent has unmarried children under 21 years of age
who are not the children of the qualifying parent, these children
can be added as derivatives of the in-country parent.
In July 2016, the CAM program expanded to include the following
additional categories of relatives who are able to apply for
admission to the United States as refugees when accompanied by a
qualifying child: (1) The in-country biological parent of a
qualifying child who is not legally married to the qualifying parent
in the United States may apply, and the unmarried and under 21 years
of age children and/or legal spouse of the in-country parent can
also be included as derivatives of the in-country parent; (2) the
caregiver of a qualifying child who is related to either the
qualifying parent in the United States or the qualifying child may
apply, and the unmarried and under 21 years of age children and/or
legal spouse of the caregiver can also be included as derivatives of
the caregiver; (3) the married and/or 21 years of age or older
children of the qualifying parent (who is lawfully present in the
United States) may apply, and (4) the unmarried and under 21 years
of age children and legal spouse of the married and/or 21 years of
age or older child can also be included as derivatives. See
Department of State, Central American Minors (CAM) Program, https://www.state.gov/j/prm/ra/cam/index.htm. At the time of the program's
original announcement and later expansion, these qualifying
relatives of the qualifying child could also be considered for
parole on a case-by-case basis, if found ineligible for refugee
admission and the accompanying qualifying child received a positive
decision of refugee status or parole. The various categories of
individuals who may be afforded access to the CAM Refugee Program
are subject to change in accordance with the priorities of the U.S.
Refugee Program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
[[Page 38927]]
travel 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. See 8 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. See INA 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.
Although DHS is terminating the CAM Parole Program, individuals who
have been paroled into the United States under the CAM Parole program
will maintain parole until the expiration of that period of parole
unless there are other grounds for termination of parole under DHS
regulations at 8 CFR 212.5(e). CAM parolees already in the United
States also may apply for re-parole on Form I-131 before their current
parole period expires or apply for any immigration status for which
they may be otherwise eligible. They are encouraged to submit any
requests for re-parole at least 90 days before expiration of their
period for parole. USCIS will consider each request for re-parole based
on the merits of each application and may re-parole individuals who
demonstrate urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public
benefit.
The termination of the CAM Parole Program does not affect the CAM
Refugee Program and its operation.
General information about applying for parole by filing a Form I-
131 may be found at http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarianparole.
Elaine C. Duke,
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2017-16828 Filed 8-15-17; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P