The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that approximately 600,000 Venezuelans residing in the United States will be allowed to legally stay for another 18 months.
The latest extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – which was also given to Salvadorans, Ukrainians and Sudanese – came on the same day Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro began his third six-year term.
Homeland Security cited the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation’s ongoing political and economic crises under Maduro’s regime as the basis for its decision. It described the situation in Caracas as a ‘severe humanitarian emergency’.