As the political environment in Venezuela continues to raise concerns, a bipartisan team of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to provide relief to Venezuelans who have long-resided in the U.S. because they can’t return to their homeland.
The group of legislators, which includes U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), presented the Venezuelan Refugee Assistance Act. The legislation would adjust the immigration status of Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2013, provided they do not have a criminal record and were never involved in the persecution of others.
“For the past decade, thousands of Venezuelans were forced to flee the brutal Chavez dictatorship,” Curbelo explained. “The situation has not improved under his hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro. In the last few months alone we have seen countless examples of the regime’s thuggish tactics, unethical behavior, and lethal force. This bill will help those Venezuelan nationals who have made a new home in the United States to remain here if they choose to since it is dangerous to return home.”
Venezuelans who qualify for the assistance will be given until Jan. 1, 2019 to apply to have their immigration status changed.
“The political turmoil in Venezuela demands that the United States do everything in its power to protect those who have been able to escape to freedom in America,” Grayson added. “We cannot in good conscience force Venezuelans to return to a country where they face arrest, torture, and execution only because they oppose the government. Granting them permanent residence status is the best, most logical way to ensure their safety.”