The Trump administration announced it will terminate temporary protections for a quarter million Venezuelans in the US within two months.
The Department of Homeland Security is already fighting legal challenges to its cancellation of Temporary Protected Status earlier this year for several hundred thousand immigrants from the country.
The TPS program allows foreign nationals to remain in the US and apply for legal work authorization for up to 18 months when conditions in their home country prevent a safe return.
Venezuela received two separate designations that the Biden administration extended in January. But DHS Kristi Noem revoked the extension and terminated a designation for 350,000 Venezuelans earlier this year. The agency said Wednesday it would cancel another 2021 designation set to expire Sept. 10.
A US. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel found last week that canceling the extension of protections was likely unlawful, affirming a lower court decision. That came, however, after the US Supreme Court granted an emergency request allowing DHS to strip protections while litigation unfolds.
The Trump administration has sought to remove hundreds of thousands of immigrants protected by the program.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser cited Venezuela’s “substantial role in driving irregular migration” in a statement.
“Weighing public safety, national security, migration factors, immigration policy, economic considerations, and foreign policy, it’s clear that allowing Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is not in America’s best interest,” he said.
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