Trump administration won't grant temporary protected status to Venezuelans

Venezuelan migrants.
(Image credit: Cris Bouroncle/AFP/Getty Images)

The Trump administration considers Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro an illegitimate leader who is causing havoc in his country, but does not plan on granting temporary protected status to Venezuelans.

The United States grants temporary protected status to people who flee from countries torn apart by armed conflicts and natural disasters, keeping them safe from deportation. The Trump administration supports the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, and routinely criticizes Maduro for causing economic instability in his country, which is suffering from food and medicine shortages. The United Nations, which says the Maduro regime has killed thousands of citizens, estimates the humanitarian crisis could displace as many as 8.2 million Venezuelans by the end of 2020.

In a letter sent to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday, Acting Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ken Cuccinelli said the government "continues to monitor the situation in Venezuela," but will not extend temporary protected status to any Venezuelans in the country. Durbin and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said in a statement that Trump "cannot have it both ways. He cannot warn Americans that Venezuela is so dangerous they should avoid traveling there and then turn around and tell Venezuelans in the U.S. they are forced to return."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In 2018, close to 30,000 Venezuelans applied for protection in the United States, The Guardian reports, while 336 were deported between October 2017 and September 2018.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.