Tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s unprovoked invasion have been able to find safety in the U.S. under a successful Biden administration policy implemented this past spring. Under the Uniting for Ukraine policy, Americans can apply to sponsor a Ukrainian refugee (or refugees). The program has been immense, with nearly 125,000 Americans submitting an application as of last month.
Officials are now reportedly considering a similar program for Venezuelans fleeing their homes and communities due to political instability and a crumbling infrastructure, The New York Times said. The proposal comes as the number of Venezuelan migrants arriving at the southern border in search of refuge has risen in recent months, becoming “the second-largest nationality stopped at the U.S. border after Mexicans,” the Associated Press (AP) reported. But there are some worrying aspects to the reported plan.
RELATED STORY: More than 50,000 Ukrainians have arrived to U.S. through Biden admin's private sponsorship program
Under the reported proposed policy, eligible Venezuelan migrants would arrive at a port of entry, such as an airport, and be able to remain in the U.S. under a temporary status known as humanitarian parole. This relief typically lasts about two years. But Venezuelans arriving at a land border will be subject to the anti-asylum Title 42 policy, the debunked order that has used the pandemic as an excuse to quickly remove migrants.
“In a significant departure from that process, under the new plan the administration would turn away many Venezuelans who do not have a sponsor or cross illegally,” The New York Times said. “They would be expelled to Mexico under a public health authority—known as Title 42—that was put in place at the start of the pandemic. This is only possible because Mexico recently agreed to take Venezuelans who are expelled from the United States under Title 42, according to officials.”
Numerous reports noted that talks around the administration’s proposed plan were still underway. “While the Ukrainian program received bipartisan support, Republicans have been less welcoming to the Venezuelans,” The New York Times said.
In a now notorious stunt using Venezuelan children and adults as human props, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis transported migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Vulnerable people were lured onto planes by recruiters who made false promises of jobs, housing, and other help. Just this week, the Treasury Department watchdog said it would be investigating whether DeSantis misused money tied to federal pandemic relief funds as part of his scheme. Meanwhile, the Biden administration this past July renewed temporary protections for Venezuelan immigrants already in the U.S., ensuring another 18 months of deportation protection for families at risk of being sent back to a humanitarian, political, and economic crises.
“As someone who left Venezuela due to political persecution and the crumbling infrastructure, I am very pleased to learn that the Biden administration is extending Temporary Protected Status for my country,” said political refugee and TPS applicant Andrés Zambrano in a statement received by Daily Kos.
The president fulfilled a key campaign promise by initially designating Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in March 2021. But a push by advocates to expand the policy upon its renewal failed. That could have opened the program to an estimated 250,000 additional Venezuelan migrants who have arrived since last year’s announcement but have not been eligible to apply. “While I may be protected, thousands of my compatriots will not,” Zambrano continued.
Geoff Ramsey, director of the Washington Office on Latin America’s Venezuela program, tweeted that the reported Biden proposal “would provide a safer, more orderly, and regular pathway for those fleeing #Venezuela to live and work in the U.S. Would be tremendous if Biden took this step—been a demand from both Venezuelan American and immigration advocacy groups.”
But our asylum system would be inaccessible to many vulnerable migrants who have no one here to sponsor them. “While we're encouraged by the idea of an orderly, humanitarian process for some folks to seek safety, this arbitrary process is unethical and confusing,” Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project tweeted. “The Biden admin could make it simple by restoring processing at all [ports of entry] for EVERYONE.”
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