Marco Rubio has joined Senate Democratic colleagues in calling for an extension of temporary protected status to Venezuelan nationals escaping the country’s humanitarian crisis to the U.S.
“While Maduro’s narcoterrorist regime continues to commit senseless acts of violence against the Venezuelan people, it is clear that the conditions on the ground warrants granting temporary protected status to Venezuelan nationals residing in the U.S.,” the Florida Republican said Thursday night in a joint statement with Democrats introducing the bill, the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status and Asylum Assistance Act of 2019. Rubio is chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relation Committee.
“This temporary solution will ensure the continued safety of Venezuelans currently in the U.S. as we work with the international community to support the legitimate government in their effort to restore democracy,” Rubio said.
White House hopeful Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is also joining the original co-sponsorship list of the bill, becoming the second presidential candidate to call for TPS for Venezuelans after Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
“Facing an ever growing economic and humanitarian crisis at the hands of a repressive government, millions of Venezuelans have fled their homes to countries throughout the hemisphere,” Booker said. “Those who have sought shelter in the United States must not be forced to return to a country where basic food and medicine are scarce and fundamental freedoms are suppressed.”
Rubio and his Florida colleague Rick Scott are the only two Senate Republicans who have publicly supported extending the temporary protected status to Venezuelan nationals. Scott, however, has not yet co-sponsored the bill.
TPS is issued to individuals from certain designated countries by the Department of Homeland Security as nations enduring extreme national hardships, including ongoing civil war, episodes of genocide, or major natural disasters. Individuals who are granted TPS can legally obtain employment in the United States and can stay without being deported. Nationals from Honduras and Haiti, for example, were extended the status because of civil war and the 2010 earthquake, respectively. An individual’s TPS can be revoked at any time for any reason by DHS.
