MIAMI — People in Cuba cannot sign up on a U.S.-based online platform that matches them with potential sponsors for the Biden administration’s parole program because of the federal government’s decades-long financial restrictions and business regulations against Havana.
Welcome.US — a nonprofit that supports Afghans resettling in the United States and matches Ukrainians fleeing war with sponsors so they can migrate here — announced Wednesday it was expanding its services to people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. People from those countries who have financial supporters can apply for a humanitarian program announced last month that grants a two-year parole so they can live and work in the United States.
Advocates have slammed the sponsorship prerequisite as a financial roadblock for many. Would-be migrants have also told The Miami Herald that they cannot apply for the parole program because they have no family or friends in the United States, or their loved ones here cannot shoulder the economic responsibility. The development from Welcome.US could help Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans without a U.S.-based network connect with willing strangers who can assist them to relocate through the federal government’s programs.
