This is the story of a big sister, Marilyn, and her little brother, Jonathan. 

Both were university students back home in Nicaragua, where schools have been a target of the violent authoritarian government. Marketplace isn’t using their family name because of the risk of persecution.

“There’s no freedom of expression,” said Marilyn, in Spanish. “There’s no work unless you support the government.”

Two years ago, when President Joe Biden opened up humanitarian parole for people from Nicaragua, their step-dad, a U.S. citizen, sponsored them. Within weeks they were on a plane to Houston, Texas. 

Marilyn was finally able to see her dad, who lives in the United States. 

“It was (a lot of) feelings because I hadn’t seen my dad for many years,” she said. 

Months later she and her brother got jobs as custodians at a local school district with their work permits from humanitarian parole. They had never worked cleaning jobs before, but the pay was decent — $12 an hour — more than salaries in Nicaragua. 

“It was a radical change,” she said. “But I needed to do it, because I was fleeing my country to fight for a better life so you just do it and you feel good doing it.”

Humanitarian parole has been a useful tool to get fleeing migrants quickly into U.S. jobs that are often low-paying and hard to fill. For janitors and building cleaners, an average of 350,000 jobs will open up annually over the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“There is an economic positive impact there,” said Joanne Pantaleon, program director at refugee resettlement agency YMCA International Services in Houston. 

“You keep businesses running and keep productivity running, and eventually there will be tax collected from those folks as well,” she said. “I think it’s a win-win.”

Her organization helped procure work permits for some 1,800 Cubans, Afghans and Ukrainians on humanitarian parole in fiscal year 2024. They’ve landed in the Houston area as security guards, cashiers, Uber drivers, gardeners, housekeepers, caregivers and electrician’s assistants, according to Pantaleon. 

“It’s immediate access to employment,” she said. “They’re making money for themselves. They’re contributing to pay their bills.” 

And in the last couple years, she said, work permits through humanitarian parole have been processed more quickly.

“Just the fact that it only takes a month and a half or two months to get it from the moment you submit your application, it’s a vast improvement,” she said. 

Migrants who entered the United States on humanitarian parole are among a growing number of people who are living and working in the country under some sort of quasi-immigration status.

“The Biden administration has used humanitarian parole in unprecedented ways,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph with the Migration Policy Institute. 

“They’ve allowed for people who have a sponsor in the United States and are coming from certain countries, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as Ukraine. And then there was a previous process for evacuating Afghans,” she said. “These people are allowed to come into the United States, and they’re coming by flight, so they’re landing at airports, and they’re being supported by people already in the country.”

The Biden administration also allowed migrants to make an appointment at the U.S.-Mexico border with the CBP One app and enter the country through the humanitarian parole authority. While this has been a novel approach, humanitarian parole is something that’s been used for decades, since before the U.S. had an asylum and refugee system, said Bush-Joseph. 

“The U.S. was paroling in 100,000s of people per year at certain times, because that was a way to allow in people fleeing conflict, instability and disasters in their home countries,” she said. 

But, Bush-Joseph said a big difference between today and back then is that Congress used to pass adjustment acts recognizing that the United States had allowed in people fleeing terrible conditions and that many would not be able to return home.

“Congress would say, ‘OK, we’re going to set up a process for you to be able to become a lawful permanent resident and perhaps eventually, a citizen, to allow you to integrate and work in the United States,'” she said.

Congress hasn’t had the political will to pass adjustment acts in recent years. And because humanitarian parole is a fleeting protection, it adds to the uncertainty about what happens next under Donald Trump. 

“The discretionary aspect of humanitarian parole, because it’s a temporary situation means that people are in precarious situations,” said Bush-Joseph. “With the Trump administration coming into office, his officials have said that they think the Biden administration’s use of parole has been illegal, and they want to end on day one these processes that have allowed for 100,000s of people to come into the country.”

And even absent Trump-administration policy changes, humanitarian parole is starting to expire for many of those who received it two years ago. While many have been able to apply for other protections like asylum or Temporary Protected Status, the pathways to stay legally in the United States long-term are limited. Some will return home or stay in the U.S. undocumented.

As for Jonathan and Marilyn from Nicaragua, their avenue to stay is their dad, who has a green card. 

But because Jonathan was under 21 when he entered and Marylin was older, they’re in different immigration lines facing different visa wait times. He gets to stay in Texas, but she has to go back to Nicaragua. 

“I’m truly afraid. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. 

For now, she’s had to turn down a promotion at work as she makes plans to return to Nicaragua. But, she’s grateful for the two years she was allowed to live in the United States under humanitarian parole.  

“It’s been a very beautiful experience for me,” she said. “I could economically make a little bit of money, which is not something I could do in my country and … I felt free here.”