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In
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
immigration lawImmigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
, the term
parole has three different meanings.
A person who does not meet the technical requirements for a
visaA visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
may be allowed to enter the U.S. on
humanitarian parole. Humanitarian parole is granted on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Homeland SecurityThe United States Department of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the United States federal government, created in response to the September 11 attacks, and with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the United States and protectorates from and responding to...
.
Another use related to immigration is
advance parole, in which a person who already legally resides in the U.S. needs to leave temporarily and return without a visa. This typically occurs when a person's application to adjust status to permanent residency (to obtain a
green cardUnited States lawful permanent residency refers to a person's immigration status: the person is authorized to live and work in the United States of America on a permanent basis....
) is pending and the person must leave the U.S. for emergency or business reasons. In the wake of September 11, 2001, there has been greater scrutiny of applications for parole and advance parole.
The term is also used to denote scenarios in which the federal government orders the release of an alien inmate incarcerated in a state prison before that inmate's sentence has been completed, with the stipulation that the inmate be immediately deported and never permitted to return to the United States. In most such cases, the federal government has determined that the need for the immediate deportation of the inmate outweighs the state's interest in punishment. The most celebrated example of this form of parole was that of
Lucky LucianoCharlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
, who was released in return for cooperating with the war effort during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.