Thousands of Venezuelans for years without legal status in the United States, they were waiting for some sort of immigration aid. Now that it has finally arrived, they are receiving it with cautious optimism and confusion. Rather than celebrate, many feel insecure.
Venezuelans were included in a decree issued by former President Donald Trump hours before he left the White House and all suspend your deportation, but they have their doubts because the magnate is no longer the president and the information in the document is small.
“It’s too early for that to celebrateWe don’t know the details, ” complained Mariana Molero, a Venezuelan who arrived in the United States with her husband in 2005 and has since been unable to regularize your legal status. Both her husband and she have an eviction notice.
Wouldn’t they be better protected if new President Joe Biden keeps his promise to grant them temporary legal status? It is the question many are asking.
Before leaving the White House, Donald Trump surprisingly suspended the deportations of Venezuelan immigrants with a decree. Photo: AFP
Hours before he ended his presidency, Trump ordered that the deportation of Venezuelans who had fled their country be suspended for 18 months and not be granted political asylum or legal status in the United States. The measure, according to some activists would benefit about 200,000 people who have fled the crisis in the Caribbean country, it also authorizes them to apply for a work permit.
However, it will have to be carried out by the Biden administration, a strong critic of Trump, whom he defeated in the polls. It is also one little used mechanism, which also baffled some lawyers, who are waiting for more specific guidelines.
“Everyone is confused“said immigration attorney Adriana Kostencki of Trump’s measure.” It is advisable to wait and see how the immigration authorities carry it out, “he added, after making sure that since the decree was issued Tuesday, Venezuelans cannot be deported.
Joe Biden’s position
Biden, in turn, has promised the Venezuelans temporary protected status. known as TPS, which in addition to authorizing them to work in some cases, could pave the way to housing, contrary to Trump’s decree.
The new president also decided a stop of 100 days for the deportation of immigrants illegal in the country, including Venezuelans, and is encouraging an immigration reform plan to be approved by Congress.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about how they will implement Trump’s decree or whether they will provide more details.
Joe Biden is pushing for a comprehensive immigration reform, but it is unclear what will happen to undocumented Venezuelans in the United States. Photo: AP
Venezuela has been in immense political, economic and social crisis for years that, according to the United Nations estimates, has caused the departure of more than five million people to other countries.
About 400,000 Venezuelans live in the United States, and about 192,000 of them have no legal status. according to the Center for Migration Studies in New York.
Molero, a lawyer who came to the United States on a tourist visa and lives in southern Florida, fears Trump’s move will not benefit her or her husband, despite the fact that they both hold deportation orders.
“There is a discrepancy in the way it is interpreted,” said this woman, a mother of two boys who were born in the United States. “There is uncertainty… Instead of reassuring myself, I have to wait for the TPS to be clarified or signed,” he said.
In New York, Kamal Morales is encouraged by Trump’s ‘gift’.
“No one expected that (Trump) could do anything for us Venezuelans at the last minute,” said this 35-year-old migrant who crossed the border into the United States from Mexico in March 2019. “The decree is a relief for I then have more time to acquire or obtain a certain status,” he said.
However, Morales is also confused and wonders if his deportation would really be lifted.
Morales, a hairdresser by trade, arrived in the United States in 2019 and was released from a Colorado detention center in January 2020. Now there is an eviction notice hanging over him. He is investigating his options with lawyers, but must report to the Immigration and Customs Service in August. His asylum application, submitted while in detention, was denied.
Expelled and detained
Since 2018, nearly 900 Venezuelans have been deported, about 200 of them in the past year, according to the Immigration and Customs Police, known as ICE by its English name. About 233 remain in custody.
According to the database of Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research group at Syracuse University in New York, there are approximately 11,000 in deportation proceedings.
Of the 8,676 asylum cases Venezuelans have in the United States, 832 were denied in fiscal year 2020, according to TRAC.
Carlos Vecchio, appointed as Ambassador of Venezuela by opposition leader Juan Guaidó and recognized as such by this country, wants to bring peace to his community.
“These are positive measures that will affect Venezuelans,” Vecchio said in a recent telephone interview with the AP agency, noting that the priority is on Venezuelan prisoners.
He said his team has already contacted the Biden administration to see how they are implementing the Trump decree, and he also hopes TPS will be approved soon.
“What we have heard is for their good, and what is to come is better,” he said after noting that the new Democratic president knows the situation in Venezuela well and “has a great opportunity” to promote change in Venezuela.
By Gisela Salomon and Claudia Torrens, The Associated Press
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