On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will shut down a program that had given some young adults and children from three countries in Central America the opportunity to a legal immigration pathway, allowing them to join their parents in the US.
The decision will shut down part of the Central American Minors program. The program was established by President Barack Obama three years ago, back in 2014, and then expanded to allow further family members in 2016, in an attempt to slow down the influx of Central American immigrant minors. The program enabled unmarried youngsters below the age of 21 from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, who had at least one parent with legal status in the US, to apply for refugee status while still in their home nations. Humanitarian parole could still allow them into the US temporarily if refugee status was denied.
But, the Department of Homeland Security has now announced that the humanitarian parole aspect of the program will end. Young adults and children may still apply for refugee status, but the parole option will no longer be available if that status is denied.
Although no reason was provided for closing the option, the Trump administration has made it a priority to tighten legal immigration avenues, as well as to stem the flow of families and youngsters from Central America, as part of a crackdown on immigration.