Thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. fear deportation after leaving TPS

The United States government announced TPS for Venezuelans in March 2021 and established that it would only benefit those who arrived before March 9 of that year. The situation leaves thousands of Venezuelans who arrived in the country after that date fearing deportation in the coming months.

Most recently the Joe Biden administration Extended the application of TPS till March 2024, but did not change the requirements for good. The situation has caused concern among more than 160,000 Venezuelans who will not be able to benefit from the program, whose benefits include work and the possibility of ending deportations.

The number of Venezuelans crossing the border irregularly has increased exponentially: In the nine months from October 2021 to June 2022, Border Patrol had nearly 112,200 encounters with Venezuelans, more than double the number for the entire fiscal year. 2021.

The Venezuelan community and bipartisan lawmakers have recently asked U.S. officials to redesign TPS to protect those who cannot regularize their situation. Apart from them, Venezuelan nationals with deportation orders will also be helpless due to the absence of DPS, on July 20, the end of another program called DED, which has stopped the deportation of all Venezuelans from January 2021. 18 months..

According to the 2019 Census Bureau, 423,000 Venezuelans live in the United States. According to the government, about 343,000 people could benefit from TPS. The vast majority — about 231,000 — have already applied, but due to government delays, only about 30,000 have been approved by December 2021.

Some experts say TPS leavers have reason to worry.

“Unfortunately it has a negative impact on Venezuelan society for people who entered after March 8,” he said. Associated Press Immigration attorney Jose Guerrero.

If they have no other source of immigration, such as a claimed legal relative, a request for adjustment of status or family reunification, or valid asylum, they are at risk of deportation, he explained.