The Department of Homeland Security ended the Biden-era designation that gave Venezuelan nationals temporary protected status in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Sept. 3 that it was revoking the 2021 designation of temporary protected status for Venezuelan nationals in the United States.
That status, which was previously set to expire on Sept. 10, will now be terminated 60 days after that date when the department publishes its notice to the Federal Register. The department indicated that it no longer believes that Venezuelan nationals meet the statutory requirements for temporary protected status.
“Given Venezuela’s substantial role in driving irregular migration and the clear magnet effect created by Temporary Protected Status, maintaining or expanding TPS for Venezuelan nationals directly undermines the Trump Administration’s efforts to secure our southern border and manage migration effectively,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement.
“Weighing public safety, national security, migration factors, immigration policy, economic considerations, and foreign policy, it’s clear that allowing Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is not in America’s best interest.”
Temporary protected status (TPS) is a program that gives people from certain countries the ability to stay in the United States legally for a period of time. The head of the Department of Homeland Security designates the status if temporary and extraordinary conditions prevent the migrants from returning to their home countries safely.
President Joe Biden established two designations of temporary protected status for Venezuelan nationals residing in the United States. The first, which was unveiled in 2021, was affected by the Sept. 3 revocation.
The second, which Biden announced in 2023, was set to expire in April, but on Jan. 10 it was extended for 18 months. The Trump administration terminated it earlier this year.
At the time, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem determined that “it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States.”
Biden’s homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, had granted temporary protected status to roughly 348,202 Venezuelan nationals, deeming that there were “extraordinary and temporary conditions in Venezuela that prevent individuals from safely returning.”
By Jacob Burg
