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Washington, D.C. (November 9, 2023) – In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, the Center for Immigration Studies looks at the number of illegal aliens released into the United States by the Biden administration in FY 2023 and their pathways for entry.  Andrew Arthur, the Center’s resident fellow in law and policy, joins us for this episode to reveal how the administration permitted 140 percent more illegal aliens than legal immigrants with green cards to enter the country in FY 2023, despite the U.S. Constitution vesting Congress with the authority to regulate immigrant admissions. 

Arthur outlines four pathways through which the administration facilitates the entry of illegal aliens.

1. CHNV Parole Program. In January, to curb illegal entries at the Southwest border post-Title 42, the Biden administration announced a new scheme under which 30,000 nationals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are allowed to fly to the U.S. in lieu of entering illegally. Nearly 250,000 foreign nationals have been paroled in under this program.  
2. CBP One App Interview Scheme. The administration’s CBP One scheme, the topic of a recent podcast episode, allows inadmissible aliens from all over the world – including countries of terrorism concern – to pre-schedule their illegal entries to the United States. The administration is using this scheme to parole up to 1,450 inadmissible aliens into the country every day, with 235,172 paroled in for FY 2023.
3. Ports of Entry. Aliens are also allowed to present themselves to CBP officers at the ports of entry and then be released on parole. The administration is using its very limited parole powers far outside the strict limits set by Congress.
4. Got-Aways.  With Border Patrol agents overwhelmed processing more than 5,600 illegal entrants a day, 600,000-plus other aliens entered illegally and evaded apprehension in FY 2023.

“More than two million inadmissible aliens have been allowed entry into the country in just one year –a population that would qualify as the 37^th largest state in the country,” said Arthur. “This undermines the rule of law and puts tremendous pressure on local and state governments to provide housing, food, education, and medical care to those joining their communities.”

In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, host of the podcast and executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, draws attention to the International Network for Immigration Research. This newly created network establishes a cooperative arrangement between research organizations, including the Center, from four countries that share similar perspectives on immigration.