The San Diego, CA-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) on Saturday, Dec. 13, condemned the Trump administration’s decision to terminate the Family Reunification Parole (FRP) programs for families from Haiti and Cuba, as well as from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, stripping them of work authorization.
“It is a white nationalist attack on Black and Brown immigrant communities dressed up in bureaucratic language about ‘security’ and ‘common-sense’ policy,” HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told Caribbean Life. “Let’s be clear: this is not about security. This is about an administration using racist, nativist scare tactics to dismantle lawful family reunification and terrorize Black and Brown immigrants.
“Family Reunification Parole was created to keep families together and provide a safe, legal pathway while people waited for visas that the US government itself told them would take years,” she added. “Now those same families — many of them Haitian — are being punished for trusting the system. It is state violence, it is anti-Black, and it is an unacceptable betrayal of basic human dignity.”
Jozef said this latest decision comes on the heels of the administration’s move to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, Ethiopia, and other countries, calling it “another deliberate blow to long-standing Black and Brown immigrant communities in the United States who have contributed significantly economically.”
Therefore, she said HBA calls for immediate reversal of the termination of all Family Reunification Parole programs; automatic extension of parole and work authorization for all current FRP beneficiaries while Congress debates any legislative changes; and legislative protections to prevent any administration from weaponizing parole policy to target specific nationalities and racialized communities.
In addition, Jozef said HBA calls for passage of comprehensive immigration reform “to create pathway to green card and citizenship for effected groups, including TPS recipients” and “robust oversight by Congress and civil society into the racial and nationality-based impacts of these decisions.”
She said HBA urges “impacted families to seek legal advice immediately, avoid signing away their rights under pressure, and connect with trusted community organizations for support and advocacy.”
Jozef said the decision follows Trump’s Executive Order 14165, which ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate “categorical parole programs as part of the administration’s broader anti-immigrant agenda.”
She said that, under the Federal Register notice, all people paroled into the United States through FRP will see their parole terminated on a fixed date, “unless they have a pending green card application filed by an arbitrary deadline.
“Once parole is terminated, their work permits will be revoked, and they will be told to ‘self-deport’ through a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) app in exchange for meager ‘exit bonuses,’” Jozef said.
She noted that DHS previously acknowledged that “FRP promoted family unity, reduced irregular migration, and supported stability through remittances.”
In the Federal Registrar, DHS said it was terminating the FRP programs as of Dec. 15, 2025.
“The temporary parole period of aliens who have been paroled into the United States under the FRP programs, and whose initial period of parole has not already expired by Jan. 14, 2026, will terminate on that date,” DHS said.
It said there are two circumstances where an immigrant’s parole will not terminate: “The immigrant filed a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, that is postmarked or electronically filed as of Dec. 15, 2025 that is still pending adjudication as of Dec. 15, 2025; or the Secretary of Homeland Security determines otherwise on a case-by-case basis.
“Aliens without a lawful basis to remain in the United States following the termination of their parole must depart the United States before their parole termination date,” DHS stressed.
It said that, on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump issued Executive Order 14165, “Securing Our Borders,” establishing “the policy of the United States to take all appropriate action to secure the borders of our nation through a range of means, including deterring and preventing the entry of illegal aliens into the United States, and removing promptly all aliens who enter or remain in violation of Federal law.”
Section 7 of the Executive Order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to, “consistent with applicable law, take all appropriate action to [t]erminate all categorical parole programs that are contrary to the policies of the United States established in [the president’s] Executive Orders.”
“Consistent with the president’s direction, and for the independent reasons stated in this notice, this notice terminates the FRP programs,” DHS said.
“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” it added.
