Back in March, Senator Marco Rubio asked the hen-Department of Homeland Secretary John Kelly to grant temporary protected status to Venezuelans that have fled Nicolas Maduro’s regime to stay in the U.S., the McClatchy DC Bureau reported Tuesday.
“In light of the ongoing political, economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, it is not in the best interests of the United States to deport non-violent Venezuelan nationals back to the country at this time,” Rubio stated in his letter to the DHS.
Actions taken by Maduro, including canceling elections and choosing his own assembly to rewrite the country’s Constitution, has added to the civil unrest in Venezuela, which has resulted in a number of deaths.
Rubio is seen as the main congressional backer of Trump’s hardened stance toward Maduro and recently praised the White House for the way it has handled the crisis in Venezuela.
“I think the Trump administration is handling it just right. There’s no doubt that that dictatorship is personally responsible for the well-being of these two individuals,” Rubio noted earlier this month.
According to the DHS, the protective services program as created to help individuals affected by “ongoing armed conflict, an environmental disaster, an epidemic or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.”
Be the first to comment