Catholic immigration leaders urged the Biden administration to re-designate Venezuela and Syria for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), citing the ongoing humanitarian crises that exist in each country.
Syrian and Venezuelan nationals who arrived in the U.S. after certain dates don’t qualify for TPS without the redesignation. If the Syrian nationals reside continuously in the US since 19 March 2021 to qualify for the program. And Venezuelan nationals they must have continuous residence in the U.S. since 8 March 2021.
TPS is a temporary immigration status that allows individuals from certain countries to remain in the U.S. if it is unsafe for them to return to their home country due to an existing humanitarian emergency.
There are approximately 343,000 individuals estimated to be eligible for TPS under Venezuela’s existing TPS designation, which Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas recently extended through March 10, 2024. Catholic immigration leaders, however, also want a redesignation that would make approximately 250,000 more Venezuelan nationals that have arrived in the U.S. after March 8, 2021, eligible for TPS.
Unlike Venezuela, Syria’s existing TPS designation has not been extended and is scheduled to end on September 30. Therefore, the Catholic immigration leaders are calling on the Biden administration to both extend the current designation for Syrian nationals in the program, and to redesignate Syria to make eligible those that arrived after March 19, 2021.