After months of calls for action from fellow Democrats, President Biden late last night announced that the U.S. would grant work permits and offer temporary protection to nearly half a million Venezuelans who had already entered the U.S.Venezuelans received the temporary protected status, known as T.P.S., for 18 months because U.S. officials determined that conditions in their home country prevent them from a safe return.
The program does not provide a permanent path to legal residence, but has been used by presidents in both parties to grant humanitarian protections to migrants fleeing wars, natural disasters and other violence.
The move is “really significant,” my colleague Nicholas Fandos told me, because the American immigration system has become so backlogged with asylum requests that tens of thousands of Venezuelans have been left in limbo.
The move will have no greater impact than in New York City, which Nick called the “epicenter of the migrant crisis,” and where thousands of immigrants will soon be eligible to begin legally applying for work and eventually move out of taxpayer-funded shelters.
Democratic leaders broadly praised the move, but some experts warned that it was, at most, a temporary solution to an immigration system that lawmakers in both parties agree is broken.
Persons:
Biden, Nicholas Fandos, Nick
Organizations:
Democratic
Locations:
U.S, New York City