US to resume family reunification program for Cubans this summer suspended during the presidency of Donald Trump, as part of the implementation of policy changes towards Cuba announced in May by the administration of Joe Biden.
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“The United States will begin resuming CFRP program operations this summer, beginning with contacting petitioners who have a pending application,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement dated Thursday.
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Created in 2007, the Cuban Parole Program for Family Reunification (CFRP) allows US citizens or residents to apply for a special type of admission to the United States (“speech”) for their relatives in Cuba.
If this permission is granted, these family members can enter the United States without waiting for their immigrant visa.
The CFRP was created in 2007 to help enforce the 1994 and 1995 migration agreements between the United States and Cuba.
Additionally, recipients may apply for authorization to work in the United States while their lawful permanent resident status is being processed.
DHS pointed out that the relative in Cuba cannot initiate the process, and that the decision to grant “conditional release” is decided on a case-by-case basis and requires the potential recipient to complete treatment and attend an interview.
The CFRP was created in 2007 to help enforce the 1994 and 1995 migration agreements between the United States and Cuba.
These agreements commit the United States to ensuring that total legal migration to the United States from Cuba is at least 20,000 Cubans each year, not including immediate family members of U.S. citizens.
But the CFRP was suspended in 2017, when Trump cut staff at the US embassy in Havana to a minimum, citing unexplained “sound attacks” that affected the health of diplomats and officials.
On May 16, the Biden administration said it would reinstate him in a bid to increase its “support for the Cuban people” in the face of the “oppression” they face.
That day, he also promised the lifting of other restrictions imposed on Cuba during the Trump era on flights, travel, remittances and visa processing.
The making of these announcements was reported to coincide with the IX Summit of the Americas that Biden is hosting this week in Los Angeles.
The Cuban government first participated in these regional events in 2015, amid the thaw in relations with the United States promoted by President Barack Obama.
But Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, did not invite the Cuban government this year, pointing to “reservations” about the lack of democratic spaces and the human rights situation on the communist island. .
DHS also said it would relaunch the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program (HFRP), which was announced to end in 2019 by the Trump administration this fall. This initiative was created in 2014 to help Haiti after the devastation of the 2010 earthquake.
AFP
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