IN LIMBO — As the U.S. grapples with an unprecedented wave of migration from Cuba, an immigration court ruling has placed hundreds of thousands of Cubans who arrived in the U.S. via the southern border with Mexico in legal limbo. It’s left lawmakers and advocates frustrated at what they say are chaotic and contradictory Department of Homeland Security border policies — and scrambling to figure out what happens next. The federal Board of Immigration Appeals ruled Monday afternoon that Cuban migrants who were granted an “order of release on recognizance,” also known as an I-220A, at the land border are not eligible to apply for permanent residency under the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which has allowed Cubans paroled into the United States to apply for green cards after staying in the U.S. for over a year. The ruling can be appealed. And DHS has the authority to change the status of these migrants. But Cuban-American lawmakers worry that if the ruling stands and nothing is done, the sheer number of Cuban migrants affected could exacerbate the strain on an already backlogged immigration system. They also worry that Cubans would be barred from employment opportunities and could be made to return to the island, possibly exposing them to reprisals from the Cuban regime. Meanwhile, immigration advocates worry that the ruling could make the process for acquiring a green card more difficult for many other groups beyond just Cubans. Since the summer of 2021, record numbers of Cubans have arrived in the United States after mass demonstrations across the island and a stagnant Cuban economy drove many to flee the country. The added effect of closure of the U.S. embassy in Havana, which only reopened early this year, meant that Cubans could not apply for asylum within Cuba for several years. All of it has prompted many Cubans to go to Central America and take their chances at the land border. The exact number of Cubans affected by the ruling is unclear. Nearly 350,000 Cubans have been apprehended at the U.S. border with Mexico since October 2021 and thousands more have attempted to reach the U.S. via the Straits of Florida — larger flows than occurred during both the Mariel Boatlift and the 1994 Balsero crisis. Not all migrants received I-220As, since decisions to grant the orders were left to the discretion of border agents at ports of entry. Some Cubans were instead given humanitarian parole, adding to the confusion. Experts and immigration advocates estimate that as many as 200,000 Cuban migrants may have received I-220As before being allowed entry into the United States. Immigration advocates say the decision could negatively affect other groups of people seeking a change in their legal status. The ruling provides migrants with more options to exit detention centers and enter the United States by reducing the stakes for issuing I-220As. But it also gives the government wide powers to bar migrants from a pathway to legal status. For them, the ruling reveals the contradictions at the heart of the DHS strategy. “It shows DHS wants it both ways,” Emma Winger, a senior attorney with the American Immigration Council, told Nightly. “They fought vigorously against allowing people, recent arrivals, to obtain the protections of conditional parole and release through bond hearings. But on the flip side, they want to use their power to basically pick and choose release authority, with the result that they prevent people from gaining permanent status here.” DHS did not respond to requests for comment. South Florida’s Cuban members of Congress — all Republicans — are publicly voicing their frustration with the ruling. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.) told Nightly that the ruling hurts “people seeking freedom” and reflects the Biden administration’s “chaotic” approach to border security. “This is just another result of the irresponsible, grotesquely irresponsible, immoral, inhumane policy of this administration dealing with the southern border,” Díaz-Balart said. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who represents Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, is pushing for the Biden administration to rectify the situation and ensure that Cubans who received I-220As are afforded the benefits of the Cuban Adjustment Act. “I don’t get why a number of Cubans who came in in the last two years have not gotten that,” Salazar told Nightly. She says she’s spoken with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the issue, who she described as “very cooperative.” Salazar voices confidence that the Cubans affected by the ruling will see their status shored up. “Oh no, no, it’s not gonna stay like that,” Salazar said as she walked down the stairs of the Capitol Tuesday night. “[The Cuban Adjustment Act] needs to be used for this group of half a million Cubans, most of them in my district. So yeah, we’re fighting.” “This hasn’t ended. This is just beginning,” she continued. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at ebazail@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ebazaileimil .
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