In one of his last decisions in office, Donald Trump on Tuesday granted 18 months protection from deportation to Venezuelans currently in the United States due to the crisis in their country.
The Republican president granted the benefit of delayed forced departure (DED in English) to Venezuelans in light of “the deteriorating situation in Venezuela” caused by the autocratic government of Nicolás Maduro, according to a memorandum published by the White House. “I have determined that it is in the interest of United States foreign policy to postpone the deportation of any citizen of Venezuela, or foreigner without nationality who has last habitually resided in Venezuela,” Trump said.
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The text says that those who have been in the United States continuously until January 20, 2021, have not been convicted of a crime or previously expelled from the country, or pose a risk to public safety, among other things, are eligible for DED. .
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Trump also ordered the employment of Venezuelans in the country as long as the delay lasts. The move had been pressured by the president’s Republican allies in Florida, where many Venezuelans have settled after fleeing the economic collapse and political crisis in their native country, which had been ruled by a socialist regime for more than two decades.
He Miami Herald He said the order could benefit 200,000 Venezuelans who are threatened with detention and deportation. Once an oil power, Venezuela is experiencing an economic debacle that has worsened since Maduro took power in 2013, a situation that, according to the UN, has led to the departure of more than 5.4 million people from the country.
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“The Trump administration has taken an important and much-needed step,” said Florida Senator Marco Rubio, one of the architects of the outgoing government’s policy of maximum pressure on Caracas. Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who represents a Florida district, also welcomed the initiative. The move looks like a last-minute gift to the Venezuela-born electorate in Florida, where Trump’s anti-socialist rhetoric took a deep breath and helped him win that crucial state in the November election.
Biden promised TPS
Trump’s decision came 16 hours before Democrat Joe Biden was inaugurated Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States, under a tense transfer of command after the Republican failed to acknowledge his defeat for months.
During the election campaign, Biden pledged to grant so-called temporary protected status (TPS in English) to Venezuelans affected by “the humanitarian crisis caused by the Maduro regime”. This benefit was created in the 1990s to allow for legal residency for foreigners who could not safely return to their country due to natural disasters or political instability.
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A bill to grant TPS to Venezuelans passed in 2019 in the House of Representatives with a Democratic majority, but did not advance in the Republican-controlled Senate. The Trump administration, trying to end the TPS program, was hesitant to grant this status to Venezuelans in the United States, fearing it would become a path to citizenship for many undocumented immigrants.
Unlike the DED, which is issued directly by the President, TPS is granted by the Secretary of Homeland Security and requires consultation with the Secretary of State.
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Once an oil power, Venezuela is experiencing an economic debacle that has worsened since Maduro took power in 2013, a situation that, according to the UN, has led to the departure of more than 5.4 million people from the country.