• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Members of security forces stand guard as Venezuelan migrants disembark a repatriation flight from Mexico at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, March 20, 2025. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said March 21 it will revoke legal protections for more than 500,000 of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, who came to the U.S. under a humanitarian parole program known as CHNV. (OSV News photo/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria, Reuters)

Catholic groups call sudden cancellation of CHNV migrants’ program ‘counterproductive’

March 25, 2025
By Simone Orendain
OSV News
Filed Under: Immigration and Migration, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Catholic groups that minister to migrants and refugees are expressing concern over President Donald Trump’s order to revoke the parole program that allows legal migrants from several Latin American and Caribbean countries to connect with sponsoring family members and work in the United States.

The Federal Register published the official order March 25 that removes temporary legal status for 532,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, or CHNV.

The document said the status of nationals from these four countries with temporary parole will be terminated 30 days after that date. From October 2022 through January 2025, CHNV migrants arrived in the U.S. with prior authorization to work and be with their sponsors.

The government’s notice promulgated by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem argued Congress intended the government’s parole authority be “narrowly tailored to specific instances,” not a broad set of criteria, with determinations of eligibility “made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account each alien’s unique circumstances.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks to employees at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington Jan. 28, 2025. The Department of Homeland Security said March 21 that it will revoke temporary legal protections for more than 500,000 migrants legally present in the U.S. from Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela. (OSV News photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, pool via Reuters)

“Parole is inherently temporary, and parole alone is not an underlying basis for obtaining any immigration status, nor does it constitute an admission to the United States,” it added.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spokeswoman called the termination of the program “counterproductive” to the Trump administration’s stated goals of promoting respect for the rule of law and reducing strain on U.S. communities.

“We urge the Administration to consider the adverse impact of this action on citizens and noncitizens alike, especially given the ongoing conditions in several of the implicated countries,” the USCCB’s Chieko Noguchi said in a statement provided to OSV News.

Catholic social teaching on immigration, explained by the USCCB, balances three interrelated principles — the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.

Noguchi noted that ending the CHNV program would lead to greater disruption of the stability of those who are contributing members of society, who work and pay taxes and raise families in the U.S. She said the bishops’ conference called on the administration “to work with Congress on a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration system that would provide for well-regulated borders and humane, orderly immigration.”

Randy McGrorty, executive director of Catholic Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Miami, said in his part of Florida, a significant segment of the population is from all four countries named in the crackdown.

He told OSV News the affected CHNV migrants contribute to the local economy because they work in high-demand service jobs such as hospitality, construction, caregiving and farming.

“This group has really filled these critical positions. So that’s why I say it’s very important to South Florida, because this group are very often family members of U.S. citizens,” McGrorty said. “They are neighbors of U.S. citizens, and they provide critical work that benefits U.S. citizens.”

McGrorty said within 30 days, all of these employees will be out of work.

“It’s something very concerning to the South Florida community,” he said.

Apart from explaining what the Federal Register notice means and whether there is another form of relief, he said “there’s very little” that can be done for them.

McGrorty said he has been in immigration legal assistance since 1993 and currently, the country is in a period that is “extremely unwelcoming.”

“I always remind people that while we are a country of immigrants, the United States has never been particularly welcoming of immigrants. There has always been a reluctance of welcoming the stranger, which is very much part of our Catholic faith,” he said. “Right now, there is a very concentrated effort to deport people.”

“These are people who are fleeing for their lives,” said an advocate whose Catholic organization in the nation’s Southwest works with migrants from the four countries in the program. The migrant advocate spoke to OSV News on condition neither she nor her organization be named.

“So when I heard that these people have until April 24 to return to their countries, it’s hard to imagine the situations they are returning to,” she said. “And I think it will just encourage people to go deeper underground here because death and incarceration or kidnapping is almost sure once they get back.”

The migrant advocate reiterated that all the families her group worked with, until the border was closed in January, entered lawfully. And they did so after escaping situations of extortion, having to pay protection money to drug cartels, being kidnapped and “really fleeing life and death situations.”

The advocate also said her organization is now a resource for the CHNV migrants, referring them to consulates and human rights groups to try to get legal help and look for other means to remain legally.

Catholic Legal Immigration Network executive director Anna Gallagher said in a statement that her group, also known as CLINIC, believes the termination of the CHNV program is “a devastating blow to thousands of vulnerable people seeking safety and stability” that violates “our nation’s moral and legal obligation to welcome those fleeing persecution and violence.”

“Denying safe pathways for migrants contradicts these values and fails to recognize the God-given humanity of those in need,” she said. “CLINIC urges the administration to reverse course and protect the most vulnerable among us.”

Read More Immigration & Migration

Miami clergy raise concerns as Trump tours Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Faith-based refugee centers in Rome provide a lifeline to newcomers

USCCB, Catholic Charities among 200 NGOs in House probe on migrant aid

Amid unrest in LA over ICE raids, faithful urged to pray for peace in streets, city

As chaotic demonstrations erupt across U.S., Catholic experts counsel nonviolence

Mexican bishops express solidarity with migrants amid protests in U.S. cities

Copyright © 2025 OSV News

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Simone Orendain

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Hope rises from ashes for St. Rita parishioners

  • Archbishop Lori and Supreme Knight Kelly meet with Pope Leo

  • 3 North Americans named to Vatican dicasteries for ecumenism, interreligious dialogue

  • ‘Big Boss’ begins first day visiting Catholic Charities programs

  • Jurassic World Rebirth Movie Review: Jurassic World Rebirth

| Latest Local News |

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

Radio Interview: Exploring the Nicene Creed – Part Two

St. Clement Mary Hofbauer adapts to times, cultures as it celebrates 100th anniversary

Archbishop Lori and Supreme Knight Kelly meet with Pope Leo

| Latest World News |

Pope prays for conversion of those resisting climate action at new Mass

Planned Parenthood

Judge blocks, for now, Planned Parenthood defunding provision backed by bishops

school choice

ANALYSIS: ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ gives school-choice advocates partial victory with more to do

Notre Dame prepares to reopen towers’ tour with return of famed statues of saints to rooftop

Castel Gandolfo

After 12 years, locals welcome pope back to his summer home

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Pope prays for conversion of those resisting climate action at new Mass
  • Judge blocks, for now, Planned Parenthood defunding provision backed by bishops
  • ANALYSIS: ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ gives school-choice advocates partial victory with more to do
  • Notre Dame prepares to reopen towers’ tour with return of famed statues of saints to rooftop
  • After 12 years, locals welcome pope back to his summer home
  • Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students
  • Synod office provides guidelines to help local churches, bishops implement synodality
  • Catholic Church holds firm on not taking stand on political candidates, despite possible IRS shift
  • St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en