US orders pause to programs allowing temporary immigrant settlement, NYT reports


  • World
  • Saturday, 25 Jan 2025

Members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) perform a drill at the Paso del Norte International border bridge, in this drone picture, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

(Reuters) -U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials have ordered what amounts to a pause in several programs that allow immigrants to settle temporarily in the United States, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The directive demands an immediate end to "final decisions"on certain visa applications pending a review by the Trump administration about whether to cancel the programs permanently, the Times reported, citing an email sent by the top official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The programs offer possible entry for a large number of immigrants from an array of countries, including war-torn Ukraine and others dealing with political upheaval or extreme poverty.

President Donald Trump, on his first day in office on Monday, issued a series of executive orders intended to deter illegal immigration and position the U.S. to deport millions of immigrants without legal status.

The Trump administration is pushing ahead with efforts to ramp up immigration enforcement, opening up the possibility of targeting migrants who entered through Biden-era programs and invoking an obscure immigration statute to make it easier to deputize state and local law enforcement to arrest and detain immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

One terminated program had allowed migrants waiting in Mexico to schedule an appointment to request asylum at a legal border crossing. Another allowed Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans outside the U.S. to enter by air if they had U.S. sponsors and undergone vetting.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Tom Hogue and William Mallard)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Next In World

Protesters denounce Trump immigration policies outside his Florida golf club
UK junior health minister sacked by PM Starmer
Ethiopia to leverage AfCFTA to utilize broader market opportunities: official
More than three dozen killed in bus accident in southern Mexico, local media says
Sweden plans stricter gun laws, school security after shooting
Emboldened by Trump, Iranian dissidents demand overthrow of rulers
Orban, Le Pen hail Trump at far-right 'Patriots' summit in Madrid
Trump’s aid freeze keeps life-saving programs shut, sparks mayhem
Over 50 people killed in convoy ambush in northeast Mali, sources say
Indian PM Modi's party wins election in capital after 27 years out of power

Others Also Read