WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration is ending a humanitarian parole immigration program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans that could affect hundreds of thousands of people legally living in the U.S.

The CHNV program, established by the Biden administration in 2022, allowed 532,000 people to legally come to the U.S.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security published its decision in the Federal Register to end the program. Those who came to the U.S. under the program have one month to either apply for a new status, such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or leave the country.

However, the Trump administration is also ending TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans. Haitians have had TPS since 2010, while Venezuelans have had it since 2021.

The status ends for Venezuelans on April 7 and Haitians on Aug. 3.

“Right now the reality is we have a lot of lives at risk,” said Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance. “We are allowing the government to potentially return them to the same violence, to the same chaos, to the same issues they have fled to actually get here.”

Jozef said there was a sense of fear and panic as Haitians who came to the U.S. under the CHNV program are rushing to get Temporary Protected Status, even though it only gives them a few extra months to stay in the country legally.

“We have one woman who has been in the U.S. for 16 years. She has two U.S.-born children,” said Jozef. “Unfortunately, her children started hearing about the potential deportation. And we see deep depression within the children because of the fear of family separation. The question is, what will happen to the 7- and 5-year-old if they take away her TPS? Now she can be deported at any time.”

The Haitian Bridge Alliance is part of a lawsuit seeking to stop the termination of TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians.

The announcement follows President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance making immigration a top issue in their campaign, specifically focusing on Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Both men claimed several times, without evidence, that Haitian immigrants there were eating pet dogs and cats.

On Capitol Hill, Ohio Democrats said the decision added insult to injury for the Haitian community in Springfield.

“I’m not surprised,” said Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio. “These are people who claim that the Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are eating cats and dogs. It’s just a continuation of their chaos, confusion and cruelty.”

Many Republicans, meanwhile, have long been critical of extending humanitarian parole programs for specific countries.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote in a statement,

“TPS was designed to be temporary, not a magic loophole granting permanent legal status to hundreds of thousands of migrants. That’s why the word temporary is right in the name. I applaud President Trump for cracking down on the Democrats’ flagrant abuse of programs like TPS and returning sanity to our immigration system.”

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, last year released a report saying the CHNV program had “enabled fraud, undermined national security, and endangered public safety, all in favor of ensuring that hundreds of thousands of otherwise illegal aliens can come to the U.S. through CHNV.”