Salazar Calls for 'Parole in Place' Status for Cuban Nationals

Florida lawmakers are crossing party lines to call on the Biden Administration’s help with the Cuban people. Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R) is urging the Biden Administration to grant “Parole in Place” (PIP) status to Cuban nationals who were issued an I-220A form upon arriving in the United States.

The I-220A form is an “Order of Release on Recognizance” document. This document is given to people who were detained and then released by immigration officials.

In addressing the pressing matter, Rep. Salazar has directed a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. If the Biden administration were to grant PIP status to Cuban nationals who were issued an I-220A form upon arriving in the U.S., it would allow them to remain in the U.S. as well as allowing them to apply for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act.

In a statement, Rep. Salazar explained that “hundreds of thousands of Cubans are living in the shadows because of a major failure of the executive branch of government.” “I am joining my colleagues across parties in urging Secretary Mayorkas to fix this mistake and allow Cubans who are escaping the Castro regime to receive parole so they can apply for residency and find safety in the Promised Land,” she added.

Late last year, the Biden Administration’s Board of Immigration Appeals announced that Cuban nationals that were released into the United States by border agents with said document, at the southern border are ineligible to apply for permanent residency or work permits under the Cuban Adjustment Act.

According to a press release from Rep. Salazar, “this decision puts the status of hundreds of thousands of Cuban nationals who were released into the United States with the I-220A form at risk, especially of being deported back to Cuba.”

Other signors of Rep. Salazar’s bill include Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) and Kentucky Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D).