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<\/p>\nWASHINGTON\u00a0\u2013 The Biden administration will offer temporary legal protections to as many as 300,000 Venezuelans now\u00a0living in the United States \u2013\u00a0a step the Trump administration resisted even as it imposed devastating economic sanctions on Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Because of conditions there, is not safe for Venezuelans to return,” a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing. The official cited widespread hunger, malnutrition\u00a0and the growing presence of violent militia groups operating in Venezuela, among other factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new immigration policy could give President Joe Biden a political boost in the all-important swing\u00a0state of Florida, where Venezuelans\u00a0spent years lobbying then-President Donald Trump to protect their fellow countrymen fleeing the economic and humanitarian crisis in the South American nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump rejected those pleas \u2013 until his last full day in office\u00a0\u2013\u00a0as he implemented hard-line immigration policies and ended\u00a0temporary\u00a0protections for thousands of immigrants from other countries, including Haiti and Nicaragua. On Jan. 19, Trump relented, signing\u00a0an executive order that deferred\u00a0the removal of more than 145,000 Venezuelans for 18 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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President Joe Biden, photographed with Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas in the Oval Office on Feb. 2, will offer temporary legal protections to as many as 300,000 Venezuelans now\u00a0living in the United States. (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)<\/span><\/p>\n The Biden administration said it would leave Trump’s 11th-hour deportation deferral in place and expand protections for Venezuelans who have fled Maduro’s regime. The U.S. and a raft of other countries have called Maduro’s rule illegitimate and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, though Maduro has survived the international pressure to step down.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hailed the Biden administration’s decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are striking a blow to the Maduro regime, which has for years deprived its own citizens of education, health care, basic freedoms, and even food,\u201d said Menendez, D-N.J. \u201cAs a result of actions taken today, upwards of 300,000 Venezuelan women, men, and children \u2026 will no longer live in fear of being returned back to Maduro\u2019s humanitarian catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House said Venezuelans living in the U.S. as of March 8 will be eligible for the new protected status, which will last 18 months and could be extended. They will have 180 days to apply to the Department of Homeland Security; the cost will be as much as $545 for biometric screening, work authorization and other paperwork.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s not clear yet how long DHS will take to process the applications, the senior administration official said.\u00a0<\/p>\n A second senior administration official said Biden will also keep in place the Trump-era sanctions on Venezuela\u00a0for now\u00a0and will continue to work with U.S. allies to push Maduro to relinquish power.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The United States is in no rush to lift sanctions,” this official told reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under Maduro’s rule, Venezuelans have suffered\u00a0from a spiraling economic and humanitarian crisis. The dire conditions have prompted more than 5\u00a0million Venezuelans\u00a0to flee their homeland,\u00a0according to the U.N. refugee agency.<\/p>\n Maduro’s security forces\u00a0have blocked\u00a0food, medical supplies\u00a0and hygiene \u2013\u00a0despite the pandemic and a starving population suffering from shortages of basic goods in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\nKeeping Trump administration sanctions<\/span><\/h2>\n