U.S. Announces Temporary Residence, Work Permits To Nearly Half A Million Venezuelans


TOPSHOT-COLOMBIA-VENEZUELA-MIGRATION
TOPSHOT - Venezuelan citizens enter Cucuta, Norte de Santander Department, Colombia from San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela at the Simon Bolivar international bridge on July 25, 2017. - Some 25.000 Venezuelans cross to Colombia and return to their country daily with food, consumables and money from ilegal work, according to official sources. Also, there are 47.000 Venezuelans in Colombia with legal migratory status and another 150.000 who have already completed the 90 allowed days and are now without visa. (Photo by Luis Acosta / AFP) (Photo by LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:40 AM – Wednesday, September 20, 2023

The Biden Administration announced that it will be giving nearly half a million Venezuelans already living in the United States temporary residence and work permits. 

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On Wednesday, the U.S. government announced that it will allow at least 472,000 Venezuelans to remain in the United States and work legally for 18 months due to growing instability and unsafe conditions in Venezuela.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement in which they said they will be extending and redesignating the “Temporary Protected Status (TPS)” for Venezuelans who were in the United States before July 31st, 2023, granting them temporary protection from deportation as well as access to work permits. 

According to the statement, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas made the decision “based on Venezuela’s increased instability and lack of safety.”

“As a result, an additional approximately hundreds of thousands Venezuelan nationals across the country will be immediately eligible to apply for work authorization. TPS provides temporary protection from removal, as well as employment authorization for eligible Venezuelan nationals,” the department said.

According to reports, under the current classification, there are around 242,700 Venezuelan TPS recipients. However, due to the redesignation, approximately 472,000 additional Venezuelans living in the United States may also petition for protection from removal.

Congress established the program for foreign nationals who cannot safely return to their home country due to natural catastrophes, military conflicts, or other extreme circumstances.

Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) praised the administration’s move, citing a “productive conversation” she had with President Joe Biden on Tuesday night.

“I’m grateful the federal government has acted so speedily to grant one of our top priorities: providing Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelan asylum seekers and migrants who have already arrived in this country,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “There’s more work to do as we address this crisis, but the State of New York is prepared to immediately begin the process of signing people up for work authorization and getting them into jobs so they can become self-sufficient.”

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