Democrats urge Trump to grant TPS to Venezuelans
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Senator Bob Menendez on Monday led 23 senators in writing a letter to President Donald Trump, asking the president to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Venezuelans fleeing the humanitarian, economic and political crisis in the country and support the victims of the Maduro regime.
The Democratic senators said in the letter, “As the people of Venezuela continue to suffer political oppression and economic deprivation at the hands of the Nicolas Maduro’s regime, they now also face the alarming spread of the COVID-19 pandemic with a public health system in ruins.”
They added, “To that end, we again urge your Administration to immediately provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible Venezuelans who are not able to return safely to their country.”
The full letter can be downloaded from the official website of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, here.
This is not the first time President Trump has been pushed to use his executive powers to grant TPS to Venezuelans. It is a years-long campaign.
The letter was written a year following the Democrat-led House of Representatives passed H.R. 549, the Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 to try to circumvent the administration’s inaction by legislatively allowing temporary protections for approximately 200,000 Venezuelans.
“In July 2019, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 549, the Venezuela TPS Act, a bill that designates Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), providing approximately 200,000 Venezuelan nationals with protection in the United States,” added the senators in the letter. “However, Republican members of the Senate have repeatedly opposed meaningful action on this bill. Moreover, your Administration has the authority it needs to designate Venezuela for TPS today given that conditions in Venezuela clearly meet the requirements of the TPS statute, yet it has failed to do so.”
Read the full press release on the official website of Senate Democrats, here.
