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By Daniela Goncalves
Caracas. Los Venezuelans who yearn to find new opportunities in United States face hoaxes and scams on social media by people who request up to $10,000 in exchange for being sponsor to get a
humanitarian parole, the permit to live temporarily that is granted from October 12, 2022. One of the Venezuelans who fell into that trap is Yovanna Dimatteo, 38 years old. she told Telemundo that after the announcement of the humanitarian parole program, she saw, together with her husband, a way out of the difficult situation they were going through in Colombia. However, some people she contacted to request that they be your sponsor thethey asked for between 8,000 and 10,000 dollars
.
Venezuelans with humanitarian parole: can they travel outside the US? “We fall into the trap out of despair and the anguish we face,” Dimatteo told the American media. Not only Venezuelans have been deceived. Social networks have become an industry that also transforms the despair of the people of Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti into great opportunities forprofit illicitly
. “I-134A humanitarian parole with your sponsor.Price 10 thousand dollars . They pay $2,000 to apply. and the rest with the sponsor under an affidavit agreement”, says one of the messages in Facebook of the group Humanitarian parole with sponsor What did you get the whistle
after a search on that social network. With almost 7,000 followers, another of the groups that advertise on Facebook with offers to get sponsors isPeople from all over the world and sponsors . In this, messages are usually obtained from people who do not have the economic capacity required to be
A sponsor.“ I am looking for a sponsor to bring my 8 year old girl and my mother, please”, “I am looking for a sponsor for my 26-year-old brother andup to $2,500 given
”, are some of the messages posted in that public Facebook group.
Venezuelans with parole for the US: this is how they can travel with their pets Telemundo found a Facebook page with more than 2,500 members. is the group Sponsors for Venezuelans to USA,
in which Venezuelans express their frustration over people who offer to sponsor, but demand thousands of dollars to start the application. “How sad to see howmock the need of others
“, wrote a user in that Facebook group.
US Parole Scam Alerts Given the number of people offering to be sponsors in exchange for money, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (Uscis)alert about these scams
February 9, 2023 “If you receive an offer fromsponsorship via Telegram, WhatsApp or Facebook report to the user on the platform andreport the scam
“Uscis wrote on February 9 on his Twitter account. The United States embassy in Cuba also warned about scams through its Twitter account, recalling that theaccess to the parole process is free
. “Beware of scams from anyone asking you for money,” she said.
What is the consequence of falling for these scams? In an interview forTelemundo the immigration lawyer Alba Rosa Nieto assured that the consequences that migrants face when they are victims of these scams go beyondlose the money invested
. “You don’t have to pay money to these thugs. When they ask for large amounts in advance and then, when they give you permission, you pay the rest,This is a fraud . The first consequence is to lose money and the second is to be booked in the immigration service That you has also participated ina fraud
“, he explained.
Mercosur residency in Uruguay is no longer free for Venezuelans “This canlead to being inadmissible for life ” in the United States, added the lawyer to
Telemundo.
The humanitarian parole program entered into force for Venezuelans in October 2022, but since January 2023 it has been extended to Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians. It gives these migrants the right to live and work in the United States for two years. With information from
Telemundo
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