“I’m thinking about leaving the US”: the hopelessness of migrants who arrived legally in the country in the face of the restrictions now imposed by Trump

Although Sofía obtained the parole in May of last year, he is still waiting in Caracas for his travel permit to be issued by the United States authorities.

His son, on the other hand, made the request at the same time, received travel authorization 3 days after having achieved the parole and emigrated in June.

Migrants outside the United States could manage their procedures through CBP One, an application that the Biden government enabled in January 2023 to assign appointments with immigration authorities.

But the platform was deactivated after Trump’s inauguration and the records of 940,000 people were deleted.

“Our intention has always been to emigrate in the correct way, legally,” said Sofía from Caracas. “We followed the rules, we invested our assets in this process and now we don’t know what else we can do.”

The couple asked to preserve their true identity, hoping that this testimony will not harm them if the Trump administration enables other mechanisms to allow parole beneficiaries to enter and CBP One appointments.

It is currently unknown whether the Trump administration’s decision annuls ongoing cases or if it will only prevent new applications.

It is also not clear what will happen to people who, like Sofía, already had the procedure approved and are waiting for a travel permit.

Biden used the parole humanitarian as a response to the migration crisis unleashed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In April 2022, it implemented this mechanism to offer Ukrainians the possibility of arriving in the United States legally, and staying for 2 years with a work permit, with the support of a sponsor registered with the Department of Homeland Security.

Months later, in October 2022, the program was extended to Venezuelans, who during the last decade added 7.8 million migrants and refugees, and became the largest exodus in the history of the American continent.

In January 2023, the parole It was extended to citizens of Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua.

However, one of Trump’s most important campaign promises was to stop irregular migration to the United States, which registered historic rates during the Biden administration.

As soon as he took the reins of the White House, Trump announced that his government would undertake the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, a measure that could affect at least 11 million people living in the country without having legal immigration status.

In addition, he declared a “national emergency” on the border with Mexico and the deployment of military forces to guard it, and even repealed the law that prohibited security forces from searching for undocumented migrants in churches, schools and hospitals, places that were previously considered ” “sensitive” and that they should remain exempt from immigration raids.

Mario reviews the family story that led them to the decision to go to the United States.

First, the death of his youngest daughter in Venezuela, due to heart failure that was complicated by a lack of medication.

Then, the decision to emigrate to Colombia to cope with that loss with a new life project.

Then, the creation of a company that finally went bankrupt due to the confinement of the pandemic.

To recover from that failure, Mario decided to accept a job offer in the United States, while Sofía returned to Caracas to reorganize. They sold everything and used their savings for the procedures to settle in the United States.

“This whole process has cost us close to US$30,000,” Mario said. «And now it turns out that I can’t see my wife? This is no longer an effort, it is a sacrifice.

In August 2024, the process for Sofía and thousands of applicants was temporarily halted due to a massive application fraud investigation, which further delayed the couple’s reunion.

During these years, Mario and Sofía have built a shared daily life through WhatsApp chat. And they communicate by video call every time Sofía manages to have a good internet connection in Caracas.

“We have anger and frustration, it is no longer about wasting time but about losing our marriage,” Mario lamented. “I can’t take it anymore.”

The couple rules out staying in Venezuela, which remains immersed in a political crisis after President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third term, despite allegations of fraud by the opposition, which published the electoral records showing the triumph of candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

However, Mario has a European passport. If in the next six months they do not find a way to settle together in the United States, they will go to Italy, the land of their parents and grandparents, ready to start from scratch once again, with grown children and growing grandchildren.

“Being separated from my wife has been harder than the death of our daughter,” he said. “In that circumstance we were able to make a closure, but this time we are trapped in a situation that we do not know when it will end.”