Grassley Introduces Bill to Reform Immigration Parole, Rein In Executive Branch Abuses
WASHINGTON
– Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
today introduced legislation to restore integrity to the immigration parole statute
and bring it back into line with congressional intent after decades of misuse
by multiple presidents.
Immigration
parole, first established in 1952, allows the executive branch to temporarily
grant individuals entry into the United States on case-by-case bases for urgent
humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. More than one president,
particularly Presidents Obama and Biden, have abused this authority to admit
entire categories of people—circumventing the country’s established immigration
laws and programs.
“Immigration
parole has been updated on more than one occasion because the executive branch
has intentionally undermined the original congressional intent of the program
and abused this unique authority. My bill is intended to make the law crystal
clear, stop such abuses and restore integrity that’s clearly been lost,” Grassley
said.
Grassley’s
bill, the Immigration Parole Reform Act of 2022, would make a number of
reforms to ensure the executive branch complies with the original,
long-standing congressional intent for the immigration parole authority. It
would, among other changes, clarify that parole may not be granted according to
criteria that describes entire categories of potential parolees, and very
clearly define what qualifies as an ‘urgent humanitarian reason’ or
‘significant public benefit.’ It would also provide clarity on the timing and
extension of immigration parole, among other reforms.
Grassley’s
legislation follows at least two prior pieces of legislation passed by Congress
that ineffectively attempted to make clarifying reforms. Recent administrations
have utilized what is supposed to be a “case-by-case” authority to instead
create numerous categorical parole programs, including programs modeled off
legislative proposals Congress had either failed to pass into law or rejected.
The Biden administration has even utilized the parole authority alongside the ‘Alternatives
to Detention’ program to release illegal immigrants into the United States
without a proper charging document or immigration court date.
For
more information on the Immigration
Parole Reform Act:
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