Emergency Memo

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Office of Information Technology
Washington, DC 20529

Memorandum
TO:

Richard Revesz
Administrator,
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget

THROUGH: Eric Hysen
DHS Chief Information Officer

ERIC N
HYSEN

Digitally signed by ERIC
N HYSEN
Date: 2023.11.13
08:46:01 -08'00'

FROM:

Samantha Deshommes
USCIS Office of Policy and Strategy,
Chief Regulatory Officer

SAMANTHA L
DESHOMMES

Digitally signed by
SAMANTHA L DESHOMMES
Date: 2023.11.09 11:02:08
-05'00'

SUBJECT:

Request for Emergency OMB Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Clearance –
USCIS Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of
Financial Support

Purpose: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is requesting emergency approval
of a revision of Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial
Support. USCIS is seeking approval for the collection of information under 5 CFR 1320.13.
Background: Section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C.
1182(d)(5), provides the Secretary of Homeland Security with the discretionary authority to
parole noncitizens into the United States temporarily, under such reasonable conditions that the
Secretary may prescribe, only on a case-by-case basis for “urgent humanitarian reasons or
significant public benefit.” See INA sec. 212(d)(5)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5)(A); see also 6 U.S.C.
202(4) (charging the Secretary with the responsibility for “[e]stablishing and administering
rule…governing…parole”).
DHS will establish a new Family Reunification Parole (FRP) process for certain Ecuadorian
beneficiaries of approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and their immediate family
members. The new FRP process would provide lawful pathways as an alternative to irregular
migration to help relieve pressure at the Southwest Border (SWB) and reunite families,

consistent with the U.S. national interest and its foreign policy priorities. DHS has decided to
implement an FRP process consistent with Executive Order (EO) 14010 Section 3(b)(ii) 1 and the
Collaborative Migration Management Strategy issued by the National Security Council (NSC), 2
and the recommendation has been coordinated between USCIS and U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP).
USCIS uses Form I-134A to determine whether certain U.S.-based individuals have sufficient
financial resources and access to those funds to support the beneficiary named on the form for
the duration of the beneficiary’s temporary stay in the United States, as well as to obtain
information concerning whether the beneficiary merits a favorable exercise of discretion under
the statutory parole standard. Form I-134A is filed by a U.S.-based individual (the potential
supporter) to request to be considered as a supporter and to agree to provide financial support to
the beneficiary named on the form during the beneficiary’s temporary period of stay in the
United States. Currently, Form I-134A is used for the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) process, the
Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, and the Cuban, Colombian,
Guatemalan, Haitian, Honduran, and Salvadoran FRP processes. In addition to expanding the use
of this form for an Ecuadorian FRP process, USCIS is adding (1) associated changes to the
instructions and FRP process-specific fields to identify eligible beneficiaries and (2) clarifying
edits to the questions.
Discussion: USCIS requests emergency approval because the delay associated with the normal
information collection request clearance process would harm the public interest. The FRP
processes represent one part of the United States’ ongoing efforts to engage hemispheric partners
to increase their efforts to collaboratively manage irregular migration. The expansion of lawful
pathways for noncitizens to enter the United States is necessary to ensure partners’ continued
collaboration on migration issues, including the ability of the United States to meet other
immigration-management priorities such as the timely establishment of Safe Mobility Offices
(SMOs) in key locations.
Ongoing negotiations with partner countries involve the implementation of a range of new
measures, including working to establish SMOs in key locations throughout the Western
Hemisphere to manage and reduce irregular migration and improve qualified individuals’ access
to accelerated refugee processing, family reunification, and labor pathways in the United States.
As a key part of these negotiations, the United States and its partners are providing meaningful
alternatives to irregular migration, including through lawful pathways to the United States,
Canada, and Spain, as well as integration in host countries closer to home. The success of SMOs
1

Executive Order 14010, Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, To
Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and To Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum
Seekers at the United States Border, Sec. 3(b)(ii) (Feb. 2, 2021), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-0205/pdf/2021-02561.pdf, directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider the promotion of “family unity by
exercising the Secretary’s discretionary parole authority to permit certain nationals of the Northern Triangle who are
the beneficiaries of approved family-sponsored immigrant visa petitions to join their family members in the United
States, on a case-by-case basis.”
2
National Security Council, Collaborative Migration Management Strategy (July 2021)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Collaborative-Migration-Management-Strategy.pdf.

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and other new measures to reduce irregular migration to the SWB is therefore connected to the
United States expanding access to lawful pathways, including family reunification parole
processes that will benefit nationals in countries identified to host SMOs. The U.S. Government
also continues to engage with and ask additional governments to consider connecting their lawful
pathways to SMO efforts and is building goodwill and momentum to seek SMOs in still more
countries in the region.
In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) (through the end of June 2023), CBP encounters with Ecuadorians
totaled 78,056 as compared to 12,683 encounters in FY22 through the end of June 2022, a 515%
increase. By comparison, in all of FY22, encounters totaled 24,936. 3 In FY21 (through the end
of June 2021), CBP encountered a total of 54,568 Ecuadorian nationals, and in all of FY20, CBP
encountered 12,892 Ecuadorian nationals. 4 Economic insecurity and high levels of poverty, food
insecurity, and sexual and gender-based violence, coupled with the desire to reunite with family
members already in the United States, are driving migrants from Ecuador to the United States. 5
Under the proposed FRP processes, USCIS would no longer consider parole requests for
individuals outside the United States. Instead, the Department of State would send an invitation
letter to the petitioner of the approved Form I-130. The petitioner would initiate a USCIS Form
I-134A online to confirm that the petitioner has sufficient financial resources to support each
intended parolee for the duration of their stay.
Delaying the information collection approval would be contrary to the public interest because it
would undermine the above-referenced time-sensitive negotiations and efforts to manage
migration collaboratively with foreign partners.
USCIS seeks emergency processing of the Form I-134A information collection package in
accordance with 5 CFR 1320.13. USCIS certifies that the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.13(a) are
met and that:

3

CBP, Nationwide Encounters, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/nationwide-encounters (last visited Aug. 8,
2023).

4

Id.

5

Genevieve Glatsky and José María León Cabrera, Security is the Main Worry as Ecuador Votes on Sunday. Here’s
What to Know, New York Times, Aug. 20, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/20/world/americas/ecuadorelection-assassination-explainer.html; Genevieve Glatsky and José María León Cabrera, How Narco Traffickers
Unleashed Violence and Chaos in Ecuador, New York Times, Aug 17, 2023,
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/world/americas/ecuador-drug-traffickingelection.html?searchResultPosition=16; Gonzalo Solano and Michael Weissenstein, More Ecuadorians move to US,
spared many others’ hurdles, Associated Press, Apr. 2, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/ecuador-migrantsmigration-us-immigration-policy-86a8009efa8d357e7cb4dc0cff40fb52; Vincent Ricci, More Ecuadorians leaving for
US amid ‘burst in migration,’ Aljazeera, Sep. 23, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/23/moreecuadorians-leaving-for-us-amid-burst-in-migration; Adriana Pérez and Alfredo Corchado, A heartbreaking exodus:
More people from Ecuador feel forced to migrate to the U.S., The Dallas Morning News, Aug. 13, 2021,
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2021/08/13/a-heartbreaking-exodus-more-people-fromecuador-feel-forced-to-migrate-to-the-us/.

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The collection of information is needed immediately and is essential to the mission of the
agency.
The use of normal clearance procedures is reasonably likely to prevent or disrupt the
collection of information.
Public harm is reasonably likely to result if normal clearance procedures are followed.

USCIS greatly appreciates the timely consideration of this request.
Recommendation: Please sign decision memo requesting emergency approval of this collection
of information under 5 CFR 1320.13.

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