“TPS is based on legislation and is a legal immigration status, as opposed to deferred forced departure. That is why we are launching our campaign to truly stand with those fleeing the misery caused by the Maduro regime, ” he said. account, is first shared with POLITICO.
Democrats quickly pointed out that Trump’s last moment to present DED does not replace the need to grant TPS to Venezuelans. While both the deferred departure program and TPS allow the recipients to legally reside and work in the U.S., immigration experts say a protected status designation is written into the law and that there is a certain legal framework behind it. DED is not an immigration status and is granted according to the president’s approval.
Menendez, Democrats and Republicans in Florida have been campaigning for years to award TPS to Venezuelans, but attempts to persuade Trump or pass it in legislation have failed. In 2019, the Democratic-led House passed a dual bill to grant TPS to Venezuelans. But the legislation was kept in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Now Menendez feels confident that Congress can do the same with Democrats in the majority and the Biden government supporting the effort. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said during his campaign that he would expand TPS to Venezuelans.
Expanding the status quo to Venezuelans would protect some 200,000 Venezuelan citizens in the U.S. from deportation estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
TPS is used to protect immigrants from countries devastated by natural disasters or armed conflict. It is the same temporary legal status that the Trump administration announced it will phase out in 2018 for more than 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras, Sudan and Nepal over the next few years. Under Biden’s immigration plan, TPS recipients would be eligible for automatic green cards.
The bill, which is co-sponsored by sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) And Cory Booker (DN.J.) point to another attempt by top Democrats to make immigration a central issue. now that Biden is in office. Menendez also leads the Senate’s effort to approve Biden’s comprehensive immigration reform bill, which will provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and address the causes of migration from Central America.
Menendez said last week that his office plans to introduce the comprehensive bill in the next three weeks with the goal of passing it this year to prevent it from falling into the 2022 election year challenges.
But despite being in the majority, the Democrats will face an uphill battle to make a major immigration package a success. Menendez has already acknowledged that any large-scale bill would require negotiations with Republicans to pass at least ten GOP members in the Senate.
Meanwhile, some Democrats and advocates for immigrants are pushing for smaller bills to move quickly that would provide legal status for undocumented immigrants in the country. One pressure is to get unsolicited essential workers legal status through reconciliation.