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English/Español: Rubio, Menendez, Colleagues Introduce Temporary Protected Status Legislation To Support Displaced Venezuelans

Dec 13, 2018 | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues, today joined Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in introducing the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status and Asylum Assistance Act of 2018. The bipartisan legislation seeks to grant Temporary Protected Status for eligible Venezuelans fleeing the dire conditions in their homeland and to provide support for migration systems in the countries surrounding Venezuela. 
 
Established by the U.S. Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS is a temporary, renewable program that provides relief from deportation and access to a work permit for foreign nationals from certain countries who are unable to safely return to their home country due to natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other extraordinary conditions.
 
“As Venezuelans continue to face serious threats to their safety and livelihood at the hands of Maduro’s narcoterrorist tyranny, it is clear in-country conditions warrant granting temporary protected status to Venezuelan nationals residing in the U.S.,” Rubio said. “Granting this protection will provide a temporary solution to many Venezuelans who fear returning to their homeland due to the ongoing crisis and extraordinarily difficult conditions.”
 
“The extraordinary depth of Venezuela’s political, economic, and humanitarian crisis has forced millions of Venezuelans to flee their country, creating upheaval that is now being felt throughout the region,” Menendez said. “Providing Temporary Protected Status for eligible individuals and supporting migration systems in the region to assist Venezuelans who are prevented from returning safely to their country is the humanitarian and morally responsible thing to do.”
 
“When I traveled to Venezuela earlier this year, I found a country on the edge, facing overlapping economic, humanitarian, and political crises.  The Venezuelan government under President Maduro has taken a series of repressive and undemocratic actions, including the cowardly jailing of National Assembly member Juan Requesens, that threatens its own people and has isolated it from the world,” Durbin said.  “Venezuela faces a crisis, and the United States has a responsibility to respond in a manner that lives up to our American values.  It is within our power to help keep innocent men, women, and children out of harm’s way by passing the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2018.”
 
The full text of the bill can be found here.
 

RUBIO, MENÉNDEZ Y COLEGAS INTRODUCEN LEGISLACIÓN SOBRE EL ESTATUS DE PROTECCIÓN TEMPORAL EN APOYO A LOS VENEZOLANOS DESPLAZADOS
 
Washington, DC – El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL), Presidente del Subcomité de Relaciones Exteriores para el Hemisferio Occidental, Delincuencia Transnacional, Seguridad Civil, Democracia, Derechos Humanos y Asuntos Globales de la Mujer, junto a los senadores Bob Menéndez (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL) y Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introdujeron hoy la Ley de Estatus de Protección Temporal y Asilo de Venezuela del 2018. La legislación bipartidista busca otorgar el Estatus de Protección Temporal a venezolanos elegibles, quienes huyen de las crisis de su país natal. El proyecto de ley también busca brindar apoyo a los sistemas migratorios en los países aledaños a Venezuela.
Establecido por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos, bajo la Ley de Inmigración del 1990, el Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) es un programa temporal y renovable que brinda alivio a ser deportado y brinda acceso a un permiso de trabajo temporal para extranjeros de ciertos países que no pueden regresar a su país de forma segura debido a desastres naturales, conflictos armados, u otras condiciones extraordinarias.
“Ya que los venezolanos continúan enfrentando serias amenazas a su seguridad por la narco tiranía terrorista de Maduro, es evidente que las condiciones en el país justifican el otorgamiento de un estado de protección temporal a los ciudadanos venezolanos que residen en los Estados Unidos”, Rubio dijo. “La concesión de esta protección brindará una solución temporal a muchos venezolanos quienes temen regresar a su país de origen debido a la crisis actual y las condiciones extraordinariamente difíciles”.
 
El texto completo del proyecto de ley puede encontrarse aquí.