Temporary Protected Status

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on TPS, yesterday, the Biden administration announced they will designate temporary protection status for Venezuela, giving migrants from that country relief from removal and the ability to get work authorization. This decision will affect more than half of the newly arrived asylum seekers in New York.

The administration's announcement is welcome news and one many of us in the New York congressional delegation have been calling on for months. I wrote to Secretaries Blinken and Mayorkas, in July, that country conditions in Venezuela clearly met the criteria for TPS. So this is a good step forward.

TPS will give much needed relief for New York systems currently straining to support newly arrived immigrants. It is going to save New York taxpayer dollars, and it will allow migrants from Venezuela who are seeking asylum to find temporary employment, support themselves and their families, contribute to our economy, and reduce the shelter burden that New York is now undergoing.

So this is very, very welcome news. Many of these migrants can now, hopefully, get closer to finding work and finding shelter, which they need, and I thank the Biden administration for taking this step.

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