Spanish
Washington.- The Government of US President Donald Trump decided on Wednesday to revoke the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted to Venezuelans in 2021, which leaves a quarter of a million immigrants from that country on the verge of deportation.
The Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), Kristi Noem, officially announced that she will not extend the protection granted by the Government of President Joe Biden (2021-2025) to about 250,000 Venezuelans and which expires on September 10th.You may be interested in: Trump: "They call me the president of Europe"
The TPS grants a work permit and protects beneficiaries from deportation. Matthew Tragesser, a spokesperson for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), explained in a statement that the decision was made not to extend the protection given the "important role" of Venezuela in driving irregular migration and the clear magnet effect created by TPS. "Maintaining or expanding TPS for Venezuelan citizens directly undermines the Trump Administration's efforts to secure our southern border and manage migration effectively," he added. Noem determined that the conditions in Venezuela no longer meet the legal requirements for TPS and it is necessary to end it because extending the protection is against the national interest. The decision comes after the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld last Friday a federal judge's ruling that the end of TPS for approximately 600,000 Venezuelans, including those affected by today's decision, is illegal. The legal complaint seeks to protect two groups of Venezuelans covered by the TPS granted by former President Biden, those from 2021, about 250,000, and the beneficiaries of the 2023 extension, about 350,000. The three-judge appeals panel unanimously backed Judge Edward Chen of the Northern District of California, who is examining a lawsuit filed by the National TPS Alliance and seven Venezuelan immigrants affected by the cancellation of the protection ordered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last February, which at that time directly affected 350,000 Venezuelans whose protection ended last April. The Ninth Circuit's ruling also acknowledged that Venezuelans affected by the cancellation of TPS face serious harms such as job loss, family separation, detention, and deportation, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represents the plaintiffs. Chen is expected to deliver a resolution in the coming days, which could freeze the Trump Administration's decision.
