The Biden administration rolled out deportation protections to nearly a million foreign nationals living in the United States, including hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.
More than 900,000 beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be allowed to register for an 18-month extension, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday. The massive roll out — just days before President Joe Biden leaves office and President-elect Donald Trump returns to power — includes TPS extensions for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans living in the country.
The extension came on the same day the U.S. government declared new sanctions against Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro. The deportation protections also follow growing anxiety over the presence of Tren de Aragua, an international crime syndicate that originated in Venezuela and has since wreaked havoc on American communities.
“The extension of TPS is due to extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent eligible Venezuelan nationals from safely returning,” DHS said. “After reviewing the country conditions in Venezuela and consulting with interagency partners, it was determined that an 18-month TPS extension is warranted based on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane Maduro regime.”
“These conditions have contributed to high levels of crime and violence, impacting access to food, medicine, healthcare, water, electricity, and fuel,” the DHS statement continued.
First established by the federal government in 1990, TPS provides certain deportation protections and work eligibility to those who receive its designation, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The White House may designate TPS for foreign nationals residing in the U.S. whose home countries are experiencing any number of situations that may make it dangerous for them to return, such as an ongoing military conflict or natural disaster.
Following Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat in November, several Democratic lawmakers pleaded with Biden to dole out new TPS extensions before he left office, calling the remaining days he has left a “critical window” before the Trump administration comes into power and cracks down on illegal immigration. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed interest in winding down TPS benefits.
Had the designation not been extended, Venezuelans currently enjoying TPS would’ve been obligated to leave the U.S. by April. Their 18-month extension means they are eligible to remain in the country until at least October 2026, according to DHS.
Venezuelans, experiencing incredible political and economic instability since Maduro came to power, have left their home country en masse in the past several years, with the destination of choice for many being the U.S. However, among the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals making their way to the U.S. have been confirmed members of Tren de Aragua.
An internal investigation concluded that Tren de Aragua gangbangers took control of apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, in 2024 and have utilized the area to bolster their criminal enterprise. In December, a couple in Aurora had been allegedly taken hostage by suspected members of the gang, dragged to one of their apartment buildings and tortured.
An internal DHS document stated that hundreds of migrants in the U.S. are potentially connected to the gang.
“As a part of our work to counter [Tren de Aragua] TdA, DHS has an ongoing operation to crack down on gang members through re-screening certain individuals previously encountered, in addition to the rigorous screening and vetting at the border,” a DHS spokesperson stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation when the report was leaked. “All individuals confirmed or suspected to be gang members are referred for criminal prosecution or detained and placed into Expedited Removal.”
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