On April 11, 2023, USCIS and the Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration published a Federal Register Notice (FRN) announcing several enhancements to the Central American Minors (CAM) Refugee and Parole Program. IRAP has produced these one-page resources to disseminate the CAM Program changes.
The changes include:
1. New CAM eligibility for parents/guardians with asylum, U, or T visas pending since April 11, 2023. For the first time, parents and guardians with an asylum application, U visa petition, or T visa application pending since April 11, 2023, are eligible for the CAM Program. Previously, only parents and guardians with asylum applications or U visa petitions pending since May 15, 2021, were eligible. The government estimates that this change renders tens of thousands more parents and guardians eligible for the CAM Program based on the pending asylum application basis alone.
It is unknown when this change will go into effect, but parents and guardians with applications/petitions pending since April 11, 2023, are encouraged to contact the IRC CAM Hotline now to begin preparing their CAM application: (917) 410-7546 or info@menoresCAM.com.
2. New process or eligibility pertaining to step-parents petitioning for certain children. No details are available at this time.
3. Reopening of CAM cases originally filed 2014-17 that were excluded under Phase 1 reopening: The previous reopening, in March 2021, of certain CAM cases (“Phase 1”) only reopened those cases that had not received an interview at the time of the CAM Program termination in 2017-18. This new enhancement means that those cases that were excluded from Phase 1 and were never considered for parole will be reopened for parole consideration. When and how the government will reopen these cases is still unknown.
4. Acceptance of sworn statement instead of Form I-134 for CAM beneficiaries on parole track: Going forward, USCIS will accept a sworn statement to demonstrate financial support for CAM applicants on the in-country processing parole track, instead of requiring a complex USCIS form with onerous evidentiary requirements for CAM beneficiaries to be authorized to enter the US as parolees.
If you applied for the CAM Program between 2014 and 2017 or if you are interested in applying for the CAM Program now, you can review IRAP’s webpage on the CAM Program here and contact the IRC CAM Hotline for individual case assistance: (917) 410-7546 or info@menoresCAM.com.
If you are a legal representative, you may submit a referral on behalf of a potential CAM applicant through this KIND online form available here.
The DHS/DOS announcement of April 12, 2023, is available here. USCIS has updated its website to reflect the current eligibility criteria as well (English version is available here; Spanish version is available here).