Migrants face deportation after Biden shuts down scheme that fueled Springfield controversy

Temporary legal protections for migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua set to lapse

Half a million migrants face deportation from the U.S. after Joe Biden shut down a scheme that partly fueled the controversy over migrants in Springfield.
The President’s administration on Friday announced temporary legal protections for migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua would lapse after nearly two years.
Migrants from those countries had been allowed to apply for asylum in the U.S. if they could provide evidence that they had a financial sponsor, and pass a background and health check.
Over half a million people arrived in the U.S. using the program as of the end of August, according to official government data.
It had been hoped the scheme would deter people from attempting to illegally enter the country by giving them a legal route in.
However, an update on the Homeland Security Department’s website signaled changes to the scheme so migrants could not extend their stays.
New applications from people hoping to enter the U.S. from those four countries will still be accepted on the same terms.
Afghan and Ukrainian migrants who entered the U.S. under similar schemes have been allowed to extend their stays.
The decision to end the stays of hundreds of thousands of migrants comes amid stinging criticism from Donald Trump’s campaign that Mr. Biden and his vice-president, Kamala Harris, had been too weak on immigration.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Ms. Harris, the Democratic candidate, for presiding over “the worst border in the history of the world.”
Haitian migrants were thrown into the spotlight when Trump claimed they were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, during a presidential debate last month.
JD Vance, his running mate, claimed that 911 calls had been made to report Haitians allegedly capturing geese from local parks and eating them.
Both claims were dismissed by local officials in Springfield, but they highlighted a growing discontent with immigration in the U.S.
Official records show that up to 15,000 Haitians live in Clark County, which includes Springfield.
They were attracted to the area by cheap properties and available jobs, mainly at a giant Amazon warehouse in the town.
It is unclear how many of the Haitians at the center of one of the upcoming election’s biggest political storms arrived using Mr. Biden’s temporary schemes.
The scheme will end for Venezuelans later this month, and for Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans in January next year.
The first two years of the amnesty granted to new arrivals will expire this year.
It means those who are not granted asylum or have another legal route to remain in the country will have to leave.
Qualifying Cubans will be able to apply for citizenship under the Cuban Adjustment Act after a year and a day of entering the country.