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Commentary By Daniel Di Martino

Daniel Di Martino Responds to Biden Administration’s Immigration Announcement

Economics Immigration

"Last October, I praised the administration for stepping up border expulsions while creating a temporary legal channel for Venezuelans to enter the United States, but I criticized the program for how small and short-lived it would be. Then, I called for expanding the Venezuelan parole program from a yearly total of 24,000 slots to 10,000 slots per month which requires that migrants have a U.S. sponsor and are vetted, enticing them to wait in their home countries rather than show up at the border. Today, I am glad to see the Department of Homeland Security announce a new policy to accelerate expulsions along the southern border of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who attempt to cross illegally or present themselves at ports of entry unannounced, while opening a recurring legal pathway for 30,000 nationals of these countries to come to America every month and wait abroad for approval. This new legal parole program will ensure that more immigrants wait safely in their home countries while they are vetted, and fewer of them make the dangerous trek through central America and Mexico to the U.S. and pay smugglers. The U.S. asylum process still needs reforms to more quickly admit those who qualify and remove those who do not. However, this is a good step that will drastically reduce illegal immigration from these nations while ensuring that those who are admitted come legally, orderly, are vetted, and are supported by U.S. sponsors."

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Daniel Di Martino is a graduate fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a Ph.D. student in economics at Columbia University, and the founder of the Dissident Project, a speakers’ bureau for young immigrants from socialist countries. His most recent immigration reports are Improving U.S. Immigration and Reducing the Immigration Backlog.

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