by ADN America Staff
Joe Biden’s administration announced this Wednesday the renewal and expansion of an immigration permit called Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which would allow some 472,000 Venezuelans to work and reside legally in the United States.
Officials explained that TPS will now be extended to all Venezuelans who have lived continuously in the United States since July 31, 2023. This significantly increases the number of beneficiaries, since previously it only applied to those who were in the country since March 2021.
With this change, the number of Venezuelans eligible to obtain work and temporary residence permits rises from 242,700 to almost half a million, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In practice, Biden will allow Venezuelans who arrived irregularly in the last two years to regularize themselves, amid pressure from Democratic politicians such as New York Mayor Eric Adams.
In addition, TPS was renewed for 18 months, although it could be extended again in the future, as has previously happened for other nations.
This program, created in 1990, grants extraordinary immigration protections to immigrants from countries affected by conflicts, natural disasters, epidemics or other conditions that prevent a safe return. Biden initially granted it to Venezuela in 2021 due to the “growing instability and lack of security,” National Security recalled in its announcement.
With the new decision, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Venezuelans will now have the opportunity to live and work openly in the US for at least the next 18 months.
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Photo “Venezuelans” by Venezuelanalysis. CC BY-SA 3.0.
