The United States announced on Monday that it has decided to extend by 18 months the immigration permit known as Temporary Protection Status (TPS), which has allowed thousands of Venezuelans to work and reside legally in the country.
That TPS would expire on September 9, and with this extension, which will take effect a day later, it will remain in effect until March 10, 2024, the US Department of Homeland Security detailed in a statement.
This permit was created by the US Congress in 1990 to protect immigrants and refugees who could see their lives in danger if they were forced to return to their home countries.
The government of Democrat Joe Biden approved the TPS for Venezuela in March 2021, so that since then, Venezuelans who were already living in the US irregularly could have a work permit and live without fear of being deported.
The Department of Homeland Security specified in its note on Monday that Venezuelans who arrived in the country after March 8, 2021 cannot benefit from this status, which around 343,000 people can apply for under current conditions.
“This measure is one of many with which the Biden administration provides humanitarian support to Venezuelans at home and abroad,” National Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the statement.
Last Friday, a group of 22 Democratic senators, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Menéndez, urged the US president to extend this immigration permit.
This Monday, before approval was announced, Menéndez defended that this extension is just a first step that leads to an adjustment of the status of Venezuelans who have been in the country for a long time and defended that the government consider the opportunity to use their ” executive powers” to achieve it.
#extends #temporary #protection #Venezuelans #months