President Biden extended Temporary Protective Status to 472,000 Venezuelans living in the United States because of unrest in their home country, allowing the migrants to get work permits and access to other services, the Washington Post reports.
Under the program previously, only Venezuelans who entered the country before March 2021 were eligible to apply for TPS. The redesignation of the program allows the record number of Venezuelans who have applied for asylum to be able to work, something local officials around the country have requested to help ease the migrant crisis.
“Our administration and our partners across the city have led the calls to ‘Let Them Work,’ so I want to thank President Biden for hearing our entire coalition, including our hard-working congressional delegation, and taking this important step that will bring hope to the thousands of Venezuelan asylum seekers currently in our care who will now be immediately eligible for Temporary Protected Status,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.