Pascrell Votes to Extend Temporary Protective Status to Venezuelans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) lauded House passage of H.R.549, the Venezuela TPS Act of 2019. With full passage, this bipartisan legislation would designate Venezuelan nationals as eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the United States.

“The situation in Venezuela has reached untenable levels. It is a dire humanitarian crisis that requires our attention. We have the tools, the means, and the moral responsibility to act,” said Rep. Pascrell.  “With this bill, the House is acknowledging the plight of the Venezuelan people and extending a helping hand to the many families fleeing Maduro’s tyrannical state. With this legislation, we can welcome them. I hope the Senate acts swiftly.”

Rep. Pascrell has been one of the House’s foremost leaders in calling for American leadership in refugee crises around the world and in his criticism of the nation’s slow acceptance of refugees. Last May, he led 126 of his colleagues in demanding answers for the Trump’s administration’s pitiful rate of refugee resettlement. In October 2017, Pascrell led 120 of his colleagues in a letter to Donald Trump assailing his decision to set a painfully low cap for refugee admissions for 2018, and rejecting reported changes to the resettlement process to require refugees to meet an assimilation standard. In September 2017, Pascrell condemned the Trump administration’s slashing of America’s acceptance rate of refugees, saying the decision “shows no compassion, no sense of history, and no moral courage.”

###