Migrants Fly to Florida, New York, Texas, California for Parole Benefits

Guatemalan migrants deported from the United States walk on the tarmac after landing at th
JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Migrants are flying to Florida, New York, Texas, California, and Georgia, among other states, through a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program to procure parole benefits, records published by the Center for Immigration Studies reveal.

The number of migrants flying to the United States, in the hopes of securing parole, dwarfs the number that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has sent on buses to deep blue cities. In a little more than a year, about 386,000 migrants have flown to the U.S. after booking and paying for their own flights and securing the necessary documents for entry.

Biden’s parole pipeline has brought nearly 900,000 migrants to the U.S., some by land and others via flights, from January 2023 through February 2024.

Advanced Travel Authorization, launched by DHS in October 2022, allows applicants to submit information requesting parole in the U.S. through the “CBP One” mobile app while they are still in their home countries. If approved, applicants can then book a U.S.-bound flight at their own expense.

Some migrants, after arriving in the U.S., may qualify for work permits that can be renewed.

DHS provides few details regarding the American cities where parole migrants resettle, or the categories of jobs they gain after getting work permits.

Todd Bensman with the Center for Immigration Studies estimates that about 33,000 migrants are likely to have arrived in New York City after flying to the U.S. to secure parole.

Federal records, published by the Center for Immigration Studies, show that Miami, Florida is the top airport where parole migrants are flying in at their own expense, followed by airports in Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; San Francisco, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Baltimore, Maryland; and Chicago, Illinois.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R), who has fought Biden’s parole programs in court, have accused the administration of circumventing federal immigration law.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to clarify the terms of the administration’s parole benefits offered to migrants. 

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston

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