DHS, ICE, CBP: what the key terms of immigration in the US mean

The US immigration system uses key terms to describe agencies, processes and policies. This is the meaning of the acronyms related to immigration and its operation.

In the United States, the immigration system includes different terms and acronyms that describe agencies and regulations, as well as the status of people arriving from other countries.

Immigration and efforts to restrict the irregular arrival of migrants to US territory have been at the center of President Donald Trump's administration during his first days of mandate.

These are some of the key terms used in decrees and regulatory documents.

DHS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for enforcing customs, border and immigration laws, as well as carrying out cybersecurity and anti-terrorism work.

Several agencies operate under DHS that divide the tasks of processing immigration applications, managing border security and enforcing the law. These are some of them.

CBP: Customs and Border Protection is responsible for managing the movement of people and goods through the land bordersair and sea. That is, it must enforce immigration laws at the ports of entry to the country.

USCIS: The US Citizenship and Immigration Services is responsible for processing and adjudicating applications or petitions for immigration benefits.

ICE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the agency in charge of DHS law enforcement. It must investigate and prevent the irregular presence of migrants in the country. In addition, they are in charge of detention and deportation operations.

NTA

A Notice to Appear (NTA) is a legal document that DHS issues to a person when it determines that person should be placed in removal proceedings. An NTA requires the person to appear before an immigration judge.

Asylum and refugee

An asylum seeker is a person who arrives at a US port of entry and requests protection because he fears returning to his country of origin. A person is eligible for asylum if they can demonstrate that they have been persecuted because of their political affiliation, religion, ethnic group, minority status, or membership in a specific group.

On the other hand, refugees are people who request to resettle in the United States while they wait abroad for their case to be approved. Refugees can also apply for a permanent residence card or “green card” one year after their arrival in the country.

Parole

In the United States, probation is known as “parole.” In immigration, a parole grants foreigners the possibility of living temporarily and sometimes working in the United States without risk of deportation.

There are different types of parole that DHS can grant, including temporary parole or humanitarian parole for urgent reasons. The latter was used by the Joe Biden administration to implement the program that granted entry to the United States to Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans for two years. In an executive order signed on the first day of his term, Trump ended that program.

TPS

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a temporary immigration status granted by USCIS that allows people from certain countries to stay and work in the United States due to reasons of conflict, disaster or extraordinary conditions in their countries.

This program was created by Congress in the Immigration Act of 1990, and as of March 2024 there were more than 863,000 people living with TPS in the US, according to official figures.

The countries currently designated with TPS are: Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Lebanon, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.