Vanessa Cárdenas: “The insistence of some Senators to end legal pathways and parole authority is evidence that they are not interested in solutions that serve our economic needs but rather want more chaos and inhumanity at the border.”
Washington, DC — Per ongoing reports that parole authority is an ongoing sticking point in Senate and Biden administration negotiations, an array of voices are highlighting why such authority is an essential component of promoting orderly and legal migration and making the case for why such legal pathways should be expanded, not restricted.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“If the goal is promoting safe and legal migration and an orderly border, then lawmakers should be looking to expand parole authority – not restrict or eliminate it. The insistence of some Senators to end legal pathways and parole authority is evidence that they are not interested in solutions that serve our economic needs but rather want more chaos and inhumanity at the border.”
Below, we highlight an array of key voices highlighting why parole is important to maintain and even expand:
- National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) memo, “Legal Pathways A Humane and Effective Option,” assesses that, “Expanding legal pathways reduces illegal entry more effectively than traditional enforcement-only approaches. Border Patrol data show work visas and the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole programs have been far more effective against illegal immigration than the Trump administration’s enforcement-only policies … The evidence indicates reducing or eliminating humanitarian parole programs, as GOP lawmakers have proposed, would increase illegal entry and remove what is currently the executive branch’s most effective tool to encourage lawful migration.”
- FWD.us memo on the importance of parole authority, states, “Restricting the President’s parole authority would be a terrible mistake. It will not only cause lasting damage to the immigration system for decades to come, but it will spur more chaos at the border in 2024. That’s why some Republicans are demanding it.”
- American Immigration Council memo, “Understanding the Importance of Humanitarian Parole in the Immigration System,” concludes: “Because parole is a critical tool in the toolboxes of all three major immigration agencies, it also provides benefits to the United States. It allows the United States government to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in an orderly manner by ensuring that those allowed into the U.S. temporarily are properly vetted and can support themselves. This reduces the strain on Border Patrol and interior communities alike.”
- Arizona Republic op-ed by Bob Worsley and Rebecca Shi of the American Business Immigration Council (ABIC): “Congress must expand parole for immigrants, not negotiate it away,” notes:, “If Congress is serious about driving down inflation, building our economy and alleviating our country’s severe labor shortage, it must uphold the presidential Humanitarian Parole authority and expand work permits for long-term immigrant contributors.”
