New York, NY—Yesterday, the Biden administration announced its plan to conduct deportation flights to Venezuela. This announcement comes two weeks after the administration extended and redesignated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Nobody wants to leave their home if they don’t have to, let alone make a dangerous and grueling trek across the Darien Gap just to reach safety in the United States. The ongoing political, economic, and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Venezuela has made living conditions nearly impossible for its people. Deporting individuals back to a country in distress is inhumane and will only serve to put people back in harm's way. The Biden administration needs to stop pandering to right-wing voters by deporting people and building a wall, and should instead do the job they were elected to do: to protect all people regardless of immigration status. We need investments in legal services, not detention and deportations. We call on the Biden administration to abandon this cruel plan, and immediately stop any deportation flights to Venezuela."