At least 200,000 Venezuelans should be offered asylum and work permits in the United States, says a group of 23 Democratic Senators.
“The people of Venezuela continue to suffer political oppression and economic deprivation at the hands of the Nicolas Maduro’s regime, [and] they now also face the alarming spread of the COVID-19 pandemic with a public health system in ruins.” said the July 27 letter from the Democrats to President Donald Trump.
“We again urge your Administration to immediately provide Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible Venezuelans who are not able to return safely to their country,” said the letter, which was headed by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL).
The United States is currently in a recession caused by China’s coronavirus. The shock has pushed at least 20 million Americans out of jobs.
Business groups favor the Venezualan asylum offer, in part, because it would add more consumers, renters, and workers into the U.S. economy.
The letter follows President Donald Trump’s refusal in March 2019 to offer TPS status for Venezuelans. Since 2017, Trump has rolled back the TPS status given to several hundred thousand foreigners because of pre-2000 disasters.
If the federal government offers permission to live in the United States, many Venezuelans will be tempted to fly into the United States as tourists to claim the work permits.
“About 4.7 million Venezuelans, 16 percent of the country’s population, have fled Venezuela since its economy suffered a 65 percent contraction in 2013, the largest outside of war[time] in 45 years,” NBC.com reported in December 2019. The migrants have fled into Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and Brazil.
Many Venezuelans are already in the United States, and thousands are asking the federal government for asylum each month.
The Democrats passed a matching bill in July 2019, which was blocked by GOP Senators.
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