{"id":115093,"date":"2026-01-12T15:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/115093\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:16:08","slug":"floridas-democratic-congressional-delegation-seeks-restoration-of-tps-for-venezuelans-tallahassee-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/115093\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s Democratic Congressional Delegation Seeks Restoration of TPS for Venezuelans \u2013 Tallahassee Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Mitch Perry, The Florida Phoenix<\/p>\n

All eight Democratic U.S. representatives from Florida have signed a letter urging the Trump administration to immediately restore temporary protected status (TPS) to Venezuelans in the U.S. following the administration\u2019s military attack on Venezuela last weekend.<\/p>\n

TPS provides a shield against deportation for people from counties in the middle of a humanitarian crises or armed conflict. Since regaining office a year ago, Trump has terminated or announced intent to terminate TPS for more than 1 million individuals, according to the\u00a0American Immigration Council.<\/p>\n

The Democrats addressed their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department \u00a0of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n

In the case of Venezuela,\u00a0Noem\u00a0announced\u00a0in January 2025 that the administration was ending the 18-month extension of TPS for approximately 600,000 Venezuelans that former President Joe Biden had\u00a0implemented\u00a0just 10 days days before he left the White House. The Biden White House had said that the extension was warranted \u201cbased on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane Maduro regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter sent on Friday to Rubio and Noem was signed by 70 congressional Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of thousands of lawful Venezuelan residents who benefited from TPS \u2026 are facing deportation in the coming weeks to instability, desperate poverty and danger \u2014 conditions that have become even more dangerous since President Trump ordered military strikes and special operations to remove dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro,\u201d the letter says. \u201cMany Venezuelans are hiding out in their homes, terrified of follow-on strikes or harassment by the regime which remains in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump Administration\u2019s calamitous decision to terminate TPS for Venezuelans in January 2025 was rooted in a determination that conditions in the country had improved,\u201d the letter adds. \u201cThis claim was baseless at the time, and, with the regime left in place, it is certainly untrue now. This termination of lawful status has caused unimaginable fear and anxiety for law-abiding Venezuelan families, who passed criminal background checks, earned work permits, and paid fees and taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democrats go on to say in the letter that the Trump administration has \u201cabandoned the Venezuelans that remain in Venezuela who yearn for freedom and a democratic transition,\u201d noting how Maduro\u2019s \u201ccriminal accomplices remain in power,\u201d specifically mentioning interim president Delcy Rodriguez, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino L\u00f3pez, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello (who was\u00a0indicted\u00a0on narco-terrorism charges alongside Maduro by the U.S. Justice Department in 2020).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disturbed that the Administration has vocally backed these individuals, who are complicit in the worst abuses of the Venezuelan regime over the last decade, while dismissing the pro-democracy leadership of the legitimate president-elect, Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, and Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado,\u201d the Democrats write.<\/p>\n

No congressional Republicans signed on to the letter.<\/p>\n

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