The Biden administration has reversed the termination of two little-discussed but very significant immigration programs, including a policy that allowed Filipino World War II veterans to petition to bring loved ones to the U.S. while they wait for their visas.

Both the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program and Haitian Family Reunification Parole were terminated by the previous administration in 2019. But in recent announcements, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said both programs will come back.

“The FWVP program was established in June 2016 to allow certain Filipino World War II veterans and their U.S. citizen and lawful permanent resident spouses to apply for parole for certain family members,” USCIS said. “If approved for parole, family members could come to the United States before their immigrant visas became available.”

”Many Filipino veterans passed away long before the FWVP program was implemented,” Melissa Cruz reported for American Immigration Council, noting that thousands were still eligible for reunification when the previous administration terminated the policy. “USCIS’ reversal of its earlier termination announcement may finally give these families a chance to be together again.”

Meanwhile, legislators had urged the Biden administration to reinstate Haitian Family Reunification Parole, as part of a response to the devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the small nation this past summer.

“Your administration can provide additional relief by reinstating the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program, which would allow certain eligible U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to apply for parole for their family members in Haiti who have approved immigrant visa petitions but cannot reunite with family members due to the years-long backlog in visa processing,” legislators wrote in September. “The previous administration weakened and sought to terminate HFRP, and President Biden made a campaign pledge tore build it in October 2020.” While HFRP is coming back, other key recommendations from that letter, notably an end to the anti-asylum Title 42 policy, remain unaddressed.

But while the Biden administration said the two immigration programs are being revived, they aren’t fully operational at the moment. “We are accepting new FWVP Program applications,” USCIS said. “However, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant processing delays.” Meanwhile, USCIS said that “[p]articipation in the HFRP program is by invitation only, and we are currently assessing when new invitations might be issued.” Complicating that is the permanent closure of the USCIS field office in Port-au-Prince, also in 2019.

“The reinstatement of these programs is an important step in the right direction,” Cruz concluded in her post. “The Biden administration should do all it can to ensure these programs are operating at full capacity so families can be reunited in the shortest amount of time possible.”