Dozens of Democratic House members, including all eight Florida Democrats, are asking the Trump administration to restore Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants in the wake of last Saturday's U.S. military strikes on the country.
"Conditions in the country are deeply unstable and dangerous, and the still-intact Venezuelan regime, emboldened by support from the President of the United States, has doubled down on repression and brutality since taking power," the Democratic lawmakers wrote in their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
The letter was signed by 70 House Democrats. No Republicans signed it. Leading the effort: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, of Weston, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, of Orlando, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, of New York.
The plea by House Democrats comes less than a week after U.S. military and law enforcement authorities captured Venezuela's dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife and flew them out of the country in an extraordinary nighttime operation that was accompanied by a flurry of strikes following months of escalating Trump administration pressure on the oil-rich South American nation. The U.S. is prosecuting Maduro and his wife for drug trafficking.
TPS gives migrants from countries torn by disaster or political violence temporary but renewable protection from deportation. It is granted in 18-month increments by the DHS Secretary in coordination with the State Department.
READ MORE: Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins calls on Trump to reinstate TPS for Venezuelan immigrants
The Trump administration ended TPS and other temporary immigration programs that together allowed more than 700,000 Venezuelans to live and work legally in the U.S, putting them at risk of deportation. Venezuelans were first granted TPS under President Joe Biden. Tens of thousands of Venezuelan TPS holders live in South Florida.
The Trump administration has since deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, claiming that they were members of the Tren de Aragua gang and were "invading" the U.S. Lawyers and advocates for Venezuelan TPS holders have challenged the administration's actions in federal court.
The administration says it is safe for Venezuelans to go back to their country, especially those who were in the U.S. with TPS.
"The great news for those who are here from Venezuela on temporary protected status is that now they can go home with hope for their country — a country that they love — that there is going to be peace, prosperity and stability," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told Fox News last Sunday.
Democratic lawmakers say the administration is wrong about Venezuela's stability.
"In the days since the U.S. military operation commenced, which included missile and drone strikes in densely populated areas of Caracas that damaged residential buildings and injured innocent bystanders, the Venezuelan regime has enacted a new law criminalizing any expression of support for Maduro's exit from the country," they wrote.
The Democratic lawmakers says dozens of people have been arrested and jailed, including journalists, for sending text messages or issuing social media posts related to the news of Maduro's capture.
"Many Venezuelans are hiding out in their homes, terrified of follow-on strikes or harassment by the regime which remains in place," the lawmakers wrote.
"This administration has not just abandoned Venezuelans in the diaspora, they have abandoned the Venezuelans that remain in Venezuela, who yearn for freedom and a democratic transition," wrote the Democratic lawmakers.
Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president, has taken over as interim president with the Trump administration's blessing.
"We are disturbed that the Administration has vocally backed these individuals, who are complicit in the worst abuses of the Venezuelan regime over the last decade, while dismissing the pro-democracy leadership of the legitimate president-elect, Edmundo González, and Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader María Corina Machado," they wrote.
"We urge you to immediately rescind the revocation of TPS for Venezuelan beneficiaries and extend these critical protections for law-abiding Venezuelans who are genuinely fearful of being sent back to the same murderous regime under new management," the lawmakers wrote.
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