The Trump administration is revoking a Biden-era extension for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Venezuelans, a move that removes the work authorization for hundreds of thousands of immigrants and makes them eligible for deportation.
Kristi Noem, the new secretary of homeland security, announced the decision to end the 18-month extension of TPS for Venezuelans that Biden implemented days before he left the White House. "The people of this country want these dirtbags out," she said on Fox and Friends. "They want their communities to be safe."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has provided very little data on the immigrants arrested in recent days, specifically whether they have criminal records.
Numerous studies show that immigrants without legal status are less likely to commit crimes than non-immigrants.
TPS is a federal program that protects people from countries ravaged by war or natural disasters from deportation, and grants them work permits. It was created in the 1990's, to offer assistance to Salvadorans fleeing El Salvador's civil war. Currently, nearly a million people from 17 countries have TPS. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Venezuelans have received TPS due to "the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane Maduro regime."
Republicans have long argued that the TPS program has strayed from its original mission.
Secretary Noem added that, moving forward, the status of all migrants with TPS in the U.S. will be reconsidered.
The decision was criticized by advocates and Democratic leaders. Earlier Wednesday, Congressman Joaquin Castro, (D-Texas) told NPR , "as a nation that thinks of ourselves as a beacon of light and hope and refuge for people who are fleeing dangerous leaders, this really is a betrayal of our values."
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