Integrantes de la Fuerza Pública de Costa Rica custodian un avión con migrantes.
Sofia traveled to the United States because she wanted to visit, work and free herself from Nicaragua's socio-political crisis. She entered the United States on March 28, 2024 through the humanitarian parole program, which allowed her to stay legally and work for two years. Now that the program has been revoked, she says: “I am terrified of being deported.”
This Nicaraguan parolee, who agreed to speak to Esta Semana and CONFIDENCIAL under anonymity for fear of reprisals from the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, affirms that it is not in her plans to stay and live in the United States. But she never imagined that President Donald Trump's administration would set a one-month deadline for parolees to leave the country.
“Although I was aware of the need to apply for an adjustment of immigration status, either by family petition or asylum, I didn’t consider it because I always planned to only stay the two years, maximum,” she says.
On March 28, 2025, the U.S. government notified parolees that their work authorization and legal status have been revoked, so they must leave the country by April 24, 2025. Those who made their adjustment of status must submit their supporting documents on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.
According to Nicaraguan political scientist Manuel Orozco, only 30% of the people who entered the United States with humanitarian parole made an adjustment of legal status, either through a request for political asylum or a request for family reunification.
In real terms, Orozco's estimates, some 60,000 paroled Nicaraguans, out of 93,000 who traveled to the United States through this program, will be at risk of deportation if they do not leave the country by April 24, 2025.
Risk of Expedited Removal
Immigration attorney Astrid Montealegre explains that individuals who have not initiated adjustment of status proceedings, through a family-based or employer-sponsored petition, “may be subject to expedited removal”.
Also, people who have not submitted their asylum application “will not be able to proceed” and therefore would also be “at risk of deportation,” Montealegre adds.
Similarly, attorney Harold Rocha, president of the Nicaraguan American Legal Defense and Education Fund (NALDEF), believes that the priority of Donald Trump's government continues to be “mass deportation and expedited deportation”.
He adds that it is not only people without legal status or with criminal records who are being deported. “They are deporting, for example, university students who participated in certain protests, scientists who are not allowed to enter, businesspeople. So, there is no clarity exactly, it is assumed that they are going against everyone.”
In Nicaragua “they will imprison me”
Yolanda is another Nicaraguan parolee in the United States since June 6, 2023. Her husband was a political prisoner of the Ortega and Murillo dictatorship, so she and her family are in the process of applying for political asylum. Still, she is terrified of being deported to Nicaragua.
If she were to be deported, “What am I going to do in Nicaragua, to live with the same fear, to look for work in my profession and I won't find it because I am not a Sandinista”, Yolanda asks before expressing her greatest fear: “in Nicaragua they will send me to jail”.
She argues that migrants “are not criminals,” on the contrary, Yolanda says, “we are people who contribute to this country (the United States) because they have helped us to be here with parole, to be free people.”
“To be told that those of us who come here with a parole are deportable is frustrating because we are doing things right and they simply block our doors,” says Yolanda.
Migration attorney Montealegre explains that at this moment the people with asylum requestsare not at risk of deportation. She believes that the fear of the Nicaraguan asylum seekers is genuine. Because the Ortega and Murillo regime continues to deny their entry into its territory.
“In Nicaragua we have a dynamic that is unique in the international context, which is the denationalization of many Nicaraguans or Nicaraguans that their own government does not allow them to enter the country because they left asking for parole or because they believe they are asylum seekers. These people can be denied entry to Nicaragua,” the lawyer points out.
She adds that there are registered cases of people who, while in U.S. airports, were notified that they could not return to Nicaragua. Likewise, people who tried to enter the country by making a connection through El Salvador or Panama received a similar notification.
Chances of Asylum Approval Decrease
On the other hand, Orozco points out that the approval rate for political asylum in the United States has been around 42% in the last three years and in the face of the changes that have occurred in recent months, the approval rate could drop to 35%.
“One out of three cases of applications is going to be approved, between 40 and 45% will be denied, and then there is a group that remains pending, those pending are eventually processed, but are generally denied,” comments the political scientist.
He adds that there is the possibility of appealing the denial of political asylum, but the chances of a judge admitting the appeal are very low. “What ends up happening is that people try to buy time in order not to return to the country, however, these are quite difficult circumstances,” he stresses.
Fear of Returning to his Homeland
Miguel is another Nicaraguan who arrived in the United States on October 14, 2023, through humanitarian parole. He traveled with the goal of working and raising enough money to build a decent home for his wife and children. Now that his parole has been revoked, his stay in the U.S. is uncertain.
He affirms that in the United States “the situation in the streets is very tough.” When looking for work “they are always asking for the document (work permit)” and the fear of being deported is permanent.
“When the day comes for me to return to Nicaragua, I hope they don't deny me entry at the airport, because then I would be too sad,” Miguel says.
For attorney Montealegre, it is “worrisome” that Nicaraguans who are at risk of deportation have no certainty of being able to return to their homeland.
“They cannot enter Nicaragua without being subject to persecution and they cannot stay in the United States. So, these people are most likely going to have to consider the viability of a safe third country, which offers them the protection of international law, Montealegre comments.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is promoting “self-deportation” or voluntary departure from the country before April 24, in order for migrants with parole to avoid being subject to deportation, the process of which involves the denial of return to the country for three to ten years.
The president of NALDEF, Harold Rocha, believes that although the departure from the United States is “voluntary,” it is still “quite a hard blow.” Because many of the parolees arrived in the last few months and “the period to make all the preparations to leave is too short.”
Miguel thinks that by returning to Nicaragua he can “have opportunities.” He recalls that, before going to the United States, he worked doing home deliveries and says that “I wasn't doing badly.”
Sofia, on the other hand, is “terrified” about the deportation issue. She says she does not want to take that risk and has decided to leave the United States. She adds: “I have already bought the airline ticket to return to Nicaragua.”
This article was originally published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.