On Monday, Biden administration extended the “Temporary Protected Status” to more than 340,000 Venezuelans in the United States, who will be able to live and work in the country until March 2024.

The July 11 press release announced the government's initiative: “Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas is extending the designation of Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months. […] ‘After careful consideration, and in consultation with the Secretary of State, today I am extending that designation. This action is one of many ways the Biden administration is providing humanitarian support to Venezuelans at home and abroad, together with our regional partners. We will continue to work with our international partners to address the challenges of regional migration while ensuring our borders remain secure’.”

Also, according to the statement, the 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuela will be effective from September 10, 2022, through March 10, 2024. Only beneficiaries under Venezuela’s existing designation, and who were already residing in the United States as of March 8, 2021, are eligible to re-register for TPS under this extension. Venezuelans who arrived in the United States after March 8, 2021, are not eligible for TPS. “Approximately 343,000 individuals are estimated to be eligible for TPS under the existing designation of Venezuela”.

The expected announcement to extend TPS to Venezuelans will be a welcome break for those currently enrolled or eligible for the program but will leave tens of thousands of Venezuelans liable to deportation back to their home country.

According to The Hill, “The Department of Homeland Security had until Monday [11] to say whether it would renew the existing designation, but the administration also had the option to redesignate Venezuela, granting TPS benefits to all Venezuelans who arrived on U.S. soil since the first designation”.

With Temporary Protected Status, citizens of a country that has experienced natural or other disasters can remain and work in the United States as long as the federal government extends the designation of their home country. Unlike Donald Trump, shortly after assuming the presidency, Joe Biden approved the designation of Venezuela to the TPS, despite open criticism of the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro.

“Charlie Crist, who is leading the Democratic primary to challenge Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and Taddeo, the front-runner in the Democratic primary to challenge Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), both said a TPS expansion would help Democrats win over Hispanic constituencies in the state. […] 21 Democratic senators led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-Fla.) called on Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to redesignate Venezuela for TPS”, according to The Hill.

Immigration advocates on Monday were generally pleased with the extension announced by the Department of Homeland Security, but said the administration had missed an opportunity in not redesignating Venezuela.

Sergio Gonzales, executive director of The Immigration Hub, a pro-immigrant advocacy group, said to the publication that, “while the administration’s decision to extend TPS for Venezuela is welcomed and warranted given the deteriorating conditions in the country, we are extremely disappointed that the administration chose to not act on redesignation”.