US Homeland Security halts immigration permits from 4 countries amid concern about sponsorship fraud

SAN DIEGO – The Biden administration has temporarily suspended permits for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to enter the United States and stay up to two years amid concerns about fraud by their financial sponsors, officials said Friday.

Nearly 500,000 people from the four countries arrived through June under presidential authority after applying online with financial sponsors in the United States and flying at their own expense. It is a major piece of the Democratic administration's policies to create or expand paths for legal entry while restricting asylum for those who cross the border illegally.

The Homeland Security Department said it “temporarily paused” new authorizations while it reviews the backgrounds of financial sponsors.

The department said it has not identified any security or public safety concerns about people from the four countries who benefit, just their sponsors. Beneficiaries “are thoroughly screened and vetted prior to their arrival to the United States,” it said in statement that promised to "restart application processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards.”