Speech #1140002361

Congress once more amended the statutory parole authority to apply only on a casebycase basis. nevertheless. as the terms are not defined by the statute. they are open to interpretation by the administration. In fact. the several instances in which parole authority was used by past Presidents demonstrate that promoting family unity can serve humanitarian goals or provide a significant public benefit. The Lautenberg Parole Program. implemented by President George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988. granted parole to individuals whose refugee claims were denied. but who had family reunification concerns. In 2007. President George Herbert Walker Bush established the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program to expedite the reunification of Cuban families by paroling into the United States beneficiaries of approved familybased immigrant petitions. so they might wait together with their family members until a visa became available. In 2007. President Bush created a program to authorize the parole of certain refugee derivative family members who had aged out and. therefore. could not be eligible for refugee status. Given the administrations broad statutory parole authority. the lengthy visa backlogs that exist in most immigrant visa categories. and the humanitarian interests and significant public benefits that would attach to the unification of families. the President could make parole available to the spouses. sons. and daughters of American citizens and lawful permanent residents who face a separation of a year or more or. in the case of less than a year. when hardship is in addition to the separation. This would not permit family members to skip the line. but would allow them to wait in the United States with their family members. Authority for parole in place already is present in the country.