First Cubans Arrive in U.S. After Parole Flight Freeze: Mixed Outcomes for Travelers

After more than 48 hours of uncertainty and concern, a group of Cubans with travel permits to enter the United States under the humanitarian parole granted before the suspension of permits announced on Friday, were able to board their flights this Monday. However, a testimony cited by journalist Mario J. Pentón revealed inconsistencies in decisions, as American Airlines at Terminal 2 allowed parole beneficiaries to board the plane, but Delta at Terminal 3 did not.

Some affected individuals are reporting a "disconnection" between the previously expressed intent of the Department of State to allow those with pre-suspension permits to travel and what is actually happening in practice. However, Pentón emphasized that Cubans must verify that their permits have not been revoked, as some authorizations that had already been granted are now being denied as part of a review by State Department officials following a report that uncovered massive fraud in sponsor application forms.

This Sunday, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Martí Noticias that it would allow humanitarian parole beneficiaries with approved travel permits to enter the country. The authorities also added that they are working with stakeholders, including airlines and sponsors, to resolve the issues as soon as possible and will continue to provide updates. The clarification came after program beneficiaries with reserved flights on American Airlines, Southwest, and other airlines were stranded on August 3 at Cuban airports when the airlines did not allow them to board their flights.

Temporary Suspension of Travel Permits for Humanitarian Parole Beneficiaries

On August 2, the U.S. government temporarily froze travel permits for beneficiaries of the humanitarian parole program following an internal report revealing significant levels of fraud, according to Fox News, citing a DHS spokesperson. The government source indicated that "as a precaution," they have suspended the issuance of advance travel authorizations for the program since mid-July while they proceed with a thorough review of sponsor applications, where the focus of the fraud is located.

The CBP stopped issuing travel authorizations to Venezuelans on July 6 and to Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Haitians since July 18. Some reasons for the U.S. government's temporary suspension of the parole program were disclosed in an internal report by the Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As of April 17, 2024, they had 2,622,076 applications. Of that number, nearly 529,000 applications were "confirmed" (or approved) and around 118,000 were "not confirmed" (or denied).

The internal document revealed that application forms included social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers that were repeatedly used, sometimes hundreds of times. Parts of the report showed that 100,948 forms were completed by 3,218 serial sponsors, categorized as those whose numbers appear on 20 or more forms. It was also discovered that 24 of the 1,000 most-used numbers belonged to deceased individuals. Additionally, a hundred postal addresses were used between 124 and 739 times in more than 19,000 forms, including storage unit addresses.

Investigators noted that at least 100 IP addresses accounted for 51,133 of the I-134A form submissions, indicating that the same IP address was used multiple times. One sponsor's phone number was submitted on over 2,000 forms, and there were 2,839 forms with non-existent sponsor postal codes, according to the leak.

Last week, authorities indicated they would restart processing as soon as possible "with appropriate safeguards," although no probable date for the resumption of travel permits issuance was given. The program, initially announced for Venezuelans in October 2022, allowed a limited number of them to fly or travel directly to the United States, provided they had not entered illegally, had a sponsor in the U.S., and passed certain checks.

In January 2023, the Biden administration announced that the program would be expanded to include Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Cubans, allowing up to 30,000 people monthly to enter the United States. As of the end of June, 106,757 Cubans had benefited from the program, and about 104,130 had already traveled to the United States, according to official CBP figures.