Biden extends TPS status to 500K Venezuelan refugees

The Biden administration has announced that 472,000 Venezuelan refugees and asylum-seekers will be eligible for legal immigration status and work permits. The decision expands humanitarian assistance to the new arrivals, and supporters say it will relieve the enormous strain on cities and states scrambling to care for them.

The Sept. 20 announcement by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorka extends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months to Venezuelan refugees who arrived at the southern U.S. border before July 31.

Elected officials in New York, Illinois, and other states, immigration activists, organized labor, and business leaders welcomed the announcement. Some are wondering, however, whether the decision to not extend TPS status in a blanket manner for refugees of other nationalities will cause tension and division.

“This action demonstrates how intergovernmental coordination across national, state, and local governments continues to make our city a safe sanctuary to all people,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, after Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights Beatriz Ponce de Leon traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal officials.

The AFL-CIO also praised the Biden administration’s action. “As a result, thousands of…