WASHINGTON, DC  -  Senator Bob Menéndez (DN.J.), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,  issued the following statements and video in reaction to reports that the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas  will grant to Venezuelans in the United States a Temporary Protected Status (TPS).


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“I want to give my deepest thanks to President Biden for fulfilling his promise to support the Venezuelan people. To continue deporting Venezuelans to the tragedy that is Venezuela under the Maduro regime would be telling them that they are a burden to our communities, a threat to our national security and that they are not welcome in our country. The reality and our national interest is precisely the opposite, ”  said Menéndez, the President of the Foreign Relations Committee, who has led the bill and efforts in the Senate to grant TPS to Venezuelans. "By supporting the Venezuelan people, we are dealing a heavy blow to the Maduro regime, which for years has deprived its own people of education, medical care, basic freedoms, and even a plate of food. And with this decision we are sending a powerful signal to our allies and competitors that the United States is once again committed to the cause of democracy. "

While former President Trump refused to grant TPS to Venezuelans during his four-  year presidency,  Senate Republicans repeatedly blocked the Democrats' 2019 Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act . As the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Menéndez opened an investigation studying how the Trump administration was treating Venezuelan immigrants, which revealed that secret deportations of Venezuelan citizens were being carried out in possible violation. of the laws and policies of the United States. In 2019,  Senator Menéndez visited Cúcuta on the Colombian-Venezuelan border to see the Venezuelan refugee crisis with his own eyes.

Established by the United States Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS is a temporary, renewable program that  provides protection from deportation and the opportunity to apply for a work permit for foreign nationals of certain countries who cannot return. safely to their home country due to natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary conditions.

Below you can read the comments of Senator Bob Menéndez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:

“Hello, this is Senator Bob Menéndez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Today is a day of great joy.

After years of false promises made by the previous administration, today's decision to offer temporary protected status to Venezuelans in the United States marks a major victory in our efforts to create a more just and above all humane immigration system.
As the Democrat who has led these efforts in the Senate, I want to give my deepest thanks to President Biden for keeping his promise to support the Venezuelan people.

Thanks to today's actions, more than 300,000 Venezuelan women, men and children will be protected from deportation and will no longer have to live in fear of being returned to the humanitarian catastrophe of the Maduro regime.

Los venezolanos elegibles recibirán un estatus legal temporal, una autorización de trabajo y una oportunidad de vivir en paz y con seguridad. Gracias a esto, nuestras comunidades serán más fuertes y prósperas. 

El seguir deportando a los venezolanos a la tragedia que es el país de Venezuela bajo el régimen de Maduro seria decirles que son una carga para nuestras comunidades, una amenaza contra nuestra seguridad nacional y que no son bienvenidos en nuestro país.
La realidad y nuestro interés nacional es precisamente lo contrario.

Al apoyar al pueblo venezolano, le estamos dando un golpe al régimen de Maduro, que durante años ha privado a su propio pueblo de la educación, la atención médica, las libertades básicas e incluso un plato de comida.

Con esta decisión le estamos enviando una poderosa señal a nuestros aliados y competidores de que los Estados Unidos está nuevamente comprometido a la causa de la democracia.
Esto solo es el comienzo. A nuestros hermanos y hermanas venezolanos-estadounidenses, esta victoria es de ustedes. Adelante".