The SECURE Act was recently reintroduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). The act is a sensible way of giving clarity and peace of mind to TPS recipients whose lives in the United States are in limbo, with comprehensive immigration reform yet to be achieved. Senate Republicans should join them as co-sponsors to this bill. Among the many whose lives would benefit from this legislation are over 300,000 Venezuelans who qualify for TPS. Most of them live in Florida, which is why Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott should take the lead in co-sponsoring this bill on behalf of their Republican colleagues.
Few have done more to champion the cause of the Venezuelan people than Rubio and Scott. Their support for a restoration of democracy in Venezuela and an end to the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro has been steadfast, and that support came long before many other policymakers began to take the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela seriously.
Now, more than two years since the Trump administration rightly declared its support for Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela and stopped recognizing Maduro as the country’s legitimate leader, Maduro unfortunately is no closer from giving up his illegitimate power.
It is precisely because there sadly seems to be no end in sight for the Maduro regime that those Venezuelans who have managed to escape to the United States deserve the certainty and safety that the SECURE Act offers, and allow them a pathway to citizenship.
You only need to look at how the Venezuelan community has culturally enriched southern Florida – particularly Doral – to understand why this legislation makes sense. Much like the Cuban community before them, these Venezuelans have made Florida and the United States of America a better place and they should not be punished for circumstances beyond their control in their country of origin.
Supporting this legislation would not and should not mean an end to sanctions against the illegitimate Maduro regime. The Maduro dictatorship must continue to be confronted, and the United States must continue to make clear that it opposes the humanitarian crisis that the regime’s policies have caused.
For Venezuelan TPS recipients, as well as the more than 400,000 other TPS recipients – from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen – Senate Republicans should co-sponsor the SECURE Act. Supporting this legislation is both good politics and good policy, and the very best of both always benefit from bipartisanship.
J.P. Carroll is the former Deputy Director of Hispanic Media at the Republican National Committee and a Senior Fellow at the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy. The views expressed are the author’s own.