About 15,000 Cubans have come to the United States on humanitarian parole

Data released by U.S. officials show that about 15,000 Cubans have benefited from humanitarian parole since the program began.

The measure was announced by President Joe Biden in January, and its implementation was immediate. The program establishes the granting of 30,000 paroles each month to Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans.

This created a lot of expectations, but the reality is that the number of beneficiaries during this period is far from the maximum quota. Delays are caused by the large number of applications, the time required to verify documents, and few staff members dedicated to these functions.

In March, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued 27,783 paroles for citizens of the aforementioned four countries. However, the amounts awarded in each case are not specified.

Asylum Claims at the Mexico Border

Another way to enter the U.S. after the announcements last January is through the CBP One application to request appointment at the Mexican border. After an interview with the US authorities, a decision is made as to whether or not to accept the asylum application.

According to the company, more than 74,000 people have registered for the process. Although Cubans have also opted for this practice, three nationalities have so far provided the largest number of nominations: Mexicans, Venezuelans and Haitians.

The high demand for appointments exceeds the capacity of the organization to handle all the cases. Hence, many complain about difficulties in entering their data in the application.

In this regard, CBP says it has improved its services in recent weeks, mainly thanks to software updates to overcome technical errors.

“We will continue to refine the CBP One application as new opportunities for improvements to the system arise,” the statement concludes.