By U.S. Government Accountability Office; Rebecca S. Gambler

Customs and Border Protection can grant parole to noncitizens, giving them temporary permission to stay in the United States. CBP granted roughly 2.4 million paroles at the southwest border from late 2018 through May 2025.

Once parole is granted, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is supposed to monitor them to make sure they follow release requirements, like attending immigration court proceedings. But ICE doesn’t readily have information to identify people who were paroled at the southwest border and doesn’t monitor them as required.