Policy Backgrounders

Immigration Protections and Work Eligibility Extended to Venezuelan Migrants

September 22, 2023

The Department of Homeland Security announced the extension and redesignation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan migrants, allowing 472,000 individuals who arrived in the US between March 2021 and July 2023 to apply for temporary protection from deportation, while extending the status of existing TPS beneficiaries for 18 months.

• Significantly, the redesignation also grants hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals immediate eligibility to apply for work authorization — important to some US city leaders — while a separate announcement outlined new efforts by the Administration to accelerate processing times for work permits from 90 days to under 30 days. The Department of Homeland Security has estimated that roughly half the migrants currently living in New York are Venezuelans who would be affected by the decision.
• Border crossings began to rise over the summer after falling drastically earlier in 2023, raising new challenges for the Administration to address border enforcement and to find new legal pathways.
• The Administration’s previous immigration actions and its use of expanded humanitarian parole to grant legal status to greater numbers of incoming immigrants have faced legal challenges led by Republican states, while Congress continues to debate broader issues on immigration.