Changes are coming to the family-reunification programs for Cuba, Haiti. See what they are

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday it will make most of the application for its Cuban and Haitian family-reunification programs virtual, in an attempt to streamline the longstanding parole process.

“This modernization of the family reunification parole processes improves our ability to maintain the integrity of our vetting and screening standards, responds to important feedback from stakeholders in both the Cuban and Haitian communities, and ensures meaningful access – consistent with our values – for potential beneficiaries,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a statement.

The Cuban and Haitian family-reunification programs are an avenue for U.S. citizens or permanent residents to bring family members to the country on parole. But the programs have historically faced policy shifts, case backlogs and external disruptions that have left applicants and their family members waiting for years to be reunited. The agency said Thursday it hopes the changes will make the program “more efficient and accessible.”

Most of the application will be done through online forms and virtual portals such as a mobile application called CBP One. Only a medical exam and immigration authorities’ parole determination have to be carried out in person. Cubans and Haitians will also no longer have to attend an interview in their home country, making it possible to apply from elsewhere. The changes go into effect Friday, Homeland Security said.

Cindy Woods, National Policy Counsel at Americans for Immigrant Justice, told the Miami Herald that these are “positive changes for these two processes that have not been working.”

“This is allowing more flexibility for folks who might have already left out of fear and insecurity to be able to try and access this process from a different country,” Woods said.

Invitations have not been sent out for either the Cuban or Haitian family reunification programs since 2016, according to the Homeland Security notices from Thursday.

The federal government paused in-person interviews for the Cuban reunification program and withdrew most of its embassy staff in 2017, following the unexplained health symptoms they experienced that came to be known as “Havana syndrome.” It also shut down its Havana-based U.S. Citizenship and Services location the next year.

Under the Biden administration, consular and visa services have since resumed in Cuba, as have interviews for the family reunification program. But Homeland Security acknowledged in Thursday’s federal registry notice that barriers to the Cuban reunification programs’ application process remain, including the “economic and political crisis” on the island. It also cites the ongoing challenges the federal government faces to restart American consular and visa operations. There are ongoing repairs to the embassy building, electrical blackouts and staffing issues, among others.

“Interview capacity limitations in Cuba, resource constraints within DHS and State, and the pending application caseload have made the process inefficient and inaccessible to many beneficiaries in Cuba,” the notice said. “Many applications are pending.”

DHS also said that “several factors” have limited the processing of invitations and interviews for the Haitian family reunification program, including a Trump-era announcement that the program would end, which never materialized. The federal registry notice also points to changes in presidential administrations, the closure of Port-au-Prince’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration field office, reduced visa processing during the pandemic, and the sociopolitical crisis in Haiti. Unlike for the Cuban program, which resumed interviews last year, there have been no interviews for the Haitian family reunification program since December 2019, the agency notice said.

While Woods said Thursday’s announcement was welcome, she believes there may still be challenges in accessing the program, such as passport requirements so beneficiaries can travel to the U.S. Demand for passports skyrocketed and created long lines in Port-au-Prince after the announcement of another parole program for Haitian nationals earlier this year.

The attorney also said that access to the internet and smartphones could also be “extremely difficult” for some applicants. The new process also requires that applicants use an application called CBP One, which migrants have said can be glitchy.

Woods said that the Biden administration was presenting a “false dichotomy” because it has simultaneously created a series of new paroles and family reunification programs, while imposing a restrictive asylum policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Immigration and civil-rights groups have condemned the Biden policy, describing it as an “asylum ban” and likening it to Trump-era measures. Biden officials have rejected these comparisons, with Homeland Security saying that the previous administration had set “categorical bars,” on asylum eligibility. There is ongoing federal litigation over the policy.

“Presenting these reunification processes as alternative options does not paint a real picture of what’s happening. A lot of folks won’t be eligible for these processes,” Woods said. ”People fleeing persecution have sought to enter the U.S. in other manners out of necessity. The carrot and stick approach doesn’t work if only a limited number of people have access to the carrot.”