WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration has spent the past two years rolling back Temporary Protected Status for Haitians, Nicaraguans and Salvadorans amid a larger push to curtail immigration, but Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart is convinced that Venezuela is different.
The Miami Republican who represents Doral, the U.S. city with the largest percentage of Venezuelan-born residents, is introducing a bill that would extend TPS to Venezuelans because of the ongoing humanitarian crisis and crackdown on democracy. Diaz-Balart says the Trump administration's tough talk against President Nicolas Maduro and the current use of tax dollars for humanitarian aid shows that the administration could be open to supporting an expansive immigration policy.
"It's pretty clear they understand the situation in Venezuela, the nature of that dictatorship," Diaz-Balart said. "We're spending $95 million on humanitarian funds for the most acute crisis this hemisphere has seen. We can't return or send Venezuelans back as well."
