Four members of the Florida congressional delegation--Republican U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democratic U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz--are backing a proposal giving Venezuelan refugees a path to permanent residency.
Curbelo brought out the “Venezuelan Refugee Assistance Act” on Wednesday. The proposal would let Venezuelans who fled their home country, cannot return to that nation and arrived in the United States before the start of 2013 the ability to apply for permanent residency from now until the start of 2021 provided they do not have criminal records. Ros-Lehtinen, Soto and Wasserman Schultz are original co-sponsors of the bill.
“For over a decade, thousands of Venezuelans were forced to flee the brutal Chavez dictatorship, and now, the situation has not improved under his hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro,” Curbelo said. “In the last few weeks alone we have seen countless examples of the regime’s thuggish tactics, unethical behavior, and lethal force against innocent civilians. Top opposition leaders, like Leopoldo Lopez, remain locked up in Maduro’s prisons while the dictator continues to stop at nothing to try and control all branches of government. Over the last several years, thousands of opposition protestors have been arrested and dozens have been left for dead or killed. This bill will allow Venezuelan nationals who have made a new home in the United States to remain here if they choose to, since it is too dangerous to return home.”
"The whole world has seen all the heartbreaking images of children suffering from malnutrition, seniors facing life threatening illnesses who have no access to medicines or appropriate healthcare, desperate mothers trying to find food in the streets to feed their families. We have seen young students dying at the hands of President Nicolás Maduro's brutal, thuggish, corrupt regime," said Soto. "Basic human rights and democracy must be restored in Venezuela. That's why I am proposing this bill with Rep. Curbelo, so our brothers and sisters from Venezuela who are already in the United States receive protected immigration status as a result of this humanitarian crisis."
The bill was sent to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
