Glossary

Humanitarian parole

Temporary permission, granted case by case, to enter or stay in the U.S. for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

Also called: parole, immigration parole, CHNV parole, parole in place

Humanitarian parole is a discretionary authority in the Immigration and Nationality Act that lets the Department of Homeland Security allow a noncitizen who is otherwise inadmissible to enter or remain in the United States temporarily "for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit," on a "case-by-case basis." Parole is not an admission and does not confer permanent status.

It has been used for medical emergencies, family reasons and, in larger programs, for groups of people such as Cubans, Hungarians in 1956, Vietnamese in 1975 and, in recent years, Ukrainians (Uniting for Ukraine), Afghans after 2021 and, starting in 2022-2023, up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV). The Biden administration also used parole at the southern border through an app called CBP One.

Supporters see parole as a humane, orderly pathway used by presidents of both parties. Critics, including Republican-led states and some legal scholars, argue that the mass use of parole exceeds the "case-by-case" limit and amounts to creating immigration categories that Congress did not pass; a federal court and the courts of appeal heard challenges. The Trump administration ended the CHNV program in 2025. Compare Temporary Protected Status and asylum.

Last reviewed November 8, 2026

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Related terms

Asylum Legal protection from removal for people already in or arriving at the U.S. who show a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country. Temporary Protected Status A temporary, renewable status that shields nationals of certain countries in crisis from deportation and allows work authorization. Credible fear interview An initial screening by an asylum officer to decide if a migrant has a significant possibility of establishing an asylum claim. DACA A 2012 policy that shields certain people brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and grants work permits, renewed every two years. Catch and release A critics' label for releasing apprehended migrants into the U.S. to await immigration proceedings rather than detaining them.