More than one million migrants have entered the US since Joe Biden became President nearly four years ago.
Since the President took office at the start of 2021, his administration has used the immigration parole authority at a historic scale, to allow over one million migrants to enter the States.
Since 1952, the immigration parole authority has allowed migrants to enter the country without being in possession of a visa that would typically be required.
This decades-old law allows these entries if they further a humanitarian cause or public benefit.
Over one million migrants have entered the US since Biden became President
Reuters
Examples are those fleeing armed conflicts in Ukraine and Afghanistan, or political and economic crises in countries like Haiti and Venezuela.
It does not give these migrants legal status however, instead allowing them to live and work in the US for a period of time, typically one or two years.
According to the Biden administration, this has allowed them to respond to emergency situations, like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Taliban's reconquest of Afghanistan.
At the same time the Government argues that this has allowed them to reduce illegal crossings on the southern border as migrants now have a legal route into the country.
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Some migrants now have legal routes into the US
Reuters
The GOP have accused the Biden administration of abusing the parole law, which they argue should only be used in limited cases.
Biden and his team however argue that they acted unilaterally since Congress has not expanded legal immigration pathways since 1990.
In recent weeks Republican lawmakers in Congress have demanded significant restrictions on the parole law, in exchange for supporting Biden's request for border security funds and for military aid to Ukraine.
The White House and a small bipartisan group of senators are trying to negotiate a compromise, such as putting numerical caps on parole grants.
The immigration parole authority allows entries if they further a humanitarian cause or public benefit
Reuters
According to CBS News, they also want to bar migrants who are paroled into the country from claiming asylum in order to ensure that they leave the States once their parole period expires.
Luis Miranda, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that the Government's use of parole is part of a "balanced approach" that also includes penalties for illegal border crossings.
He said: "As a result of these efforts, hundreds of thousands of noncitizens have followed lawful pathways and orderly processes instead of crossing illegally between ports of entry.
"The fact remains that, for decades, Republican and Democratic Administrations alike have used parole authority on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit."
