South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Legal help available for South Florida Venezuelans seeking to apply for TPS
Thousands of Venezuelans in the United States are eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), but many haven’t.
To help Venezuelans apply for temporary legal status, the Venezuelan Embassy in the United States — in partnership with Miami Mayor Daniela Levin Cava, through the Office of New Americans — is holding legal clinics offering free legal assistance to those who qualify.
There are clinics scheduled for Feb. 17, 18 and 19 and March 17, 18 and 19. Additional clinics will be announced in the future, according to the link shared by the embassy.
The United States has granted TPS to Venezuelans living in the country. Initially, the deadline to request the benefit was Sept. 5, 2021, but the U.S. government extended the dateline from 6 months to 18 months. The deadline for submitting applications is now Sept. 9, 2022.
By the end of 2021, according to Brian Fincheltub, director of consular affairs at the Venezuelan Embassy in the U.S., 200,673 TPS applications were received, 15,788 were approved, 204,132 were pending and 10 were denied. TPS allows its beneficiaries to work legally in the United States and protects them from deportation. More than 323,000 Venezuelans could benefit from TPS.
The announcement of TPS for Venezuelans took place less than two months after the inauguration of Joe Biden as president. The president, who campaigned on a promise to order TPS for Venezuelans in his first 100 days in office, considers Nicolás Maduro a dictator and his May 2014 election as fraudulent.
Many lawyers and community activists invite Venezuelans to take advantage of this opportunity.
“Over the past few years, many members of Congress have been trying to pass a law allowing people with TPS to apply for permanent residence. And you never know what might happen in the future. But by not registering, you would lose the opportunity,” said Brian Becker, an immigration attorney based in Boca Raton.
To access the free legal aid, you must:
Call 305-573-1106 ext. 1109 to make an appointment.
Send a message with the word TPS to 725-72 to get a link for registration (https:// ona.salsalabs.org/tpshaiticlinic/index.html)
Register in person either at the Joseph Caleb Center (Thursdays or Fridays), 5400 22nd Ave., Miami, or the Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center (Fridays and Saturdays), 13390 W Dixie Hwy, North Miami.
Help will be in Spanish and is free, virtually or in person, the embassy said.
Additionally, the Embassy of Venezuela in the United States has been holding live workshops through @ EmbajadaVE_USA on social networks to try to answer all doubts that Venezuelans have about TPS. You can watch the videos on their pages on Facebook and Instagram (@EmbajadaVE_USA).
Extension causes confusion
And while news of the extension was welcomed, many activists and lawyers believe it has caused confusion.
“It generated a lot of confusion because they said they were extending the TPS registration period, but people thought that those who arrived after [March] 8 could apply,” said Venezuelan activist Helena Villalonga, president and founder of AMAVEX (Asociación Multicultural de Activistas Voice and Expression) and Sunrise resident in a previous interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “False hopes were created,” said Villalonga. Only individuals who can show continuous residence in the United States through March 8, 2021, are eligible under the Venezuela designation.
Villalonga added that the government has not made it clear whether it will extend the TPS benefits deadline besides the extension of the registration period, which is now Sept. 9, 2022.
“They give you time to register but they don’t extend the validity of the TPS or at least they haven’t said so. People are confused,” Villalonga said.
TPS is a temporary status. However, the benefit could be extended, although the government has not announced anything so far.
For Venezuelans seeking political asylum, Becker recommends applying for TPS while the asylum case is pending.
“The asylum is still pending while applying for TPS.
But if they don’t get the asylum approved and if they don’t have TPS, they will be subject to deportation. With TPS, there will be no basis for removal proceedings. And if the official does not approve the asylum, they would have the right to a hearing with the judge (but they would not be in removal proceeding),” he said.
What to do
To apply for the benefit, those who qualify must:
Apply for TPS by filing Form I-821 in https://www. uscis.gov/ humanitarian/ temporary-protected-status/ temporary-protected-status-designated-country-venezuela.
If you live in Florida, you must submit the form to these addresses: U.S. Postal Service (USPS), USCISPO Box 20300, Phoenix, AZ 85036 or via FedEx, UPS, and DHL to TPS Venezuela (20300)1820 E. Skyharbor Circle SSuite 100Phoenix, AZ 85034
Pay $50 for the application and $85 for the biometric screening.
Pay $410 for employment authorization. When filing an initial TPS application or re-registering for TPS, you can also apply for employment authorization (EAD) by submitting a Form I-765.
Pass a background check and prove that you entered the United States before March 8.
Population increase
Venezuela is plunged into the worst crisis in its history. The exodus of Venezuelans to the entire world adds up to a record migratory figure of nearly 5 million refugees worldwide, mostly to Colombia. The exodus is equally evident in South Florida, concentrating mainly in Weston and Doral. In fact, both cities nicknames among Hispanics are “Westonzuela” and “Doralzuela”.
The population of people of Venezuelan descent in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami Dade grew 250 percent between 2000 and 2013, according to Census figures, to more than 80,000.
An estimated 421,000 Hispanics of Venezuelan origin resided in the United States in 2017, according to an analysis by the Pew
Research Center from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Venezuelans are t he 13th largest population of Hispanic origin living in the U.S., representing less than 1% of the U.S. Hispanic population.
In addition to Venezuelans, people without nationality who have last resided in Venezuela and who currently live in the U.S. may apply for this TPS designation.
Legal clinics are conducted by the Miami-Dade Office for New Americans i n partnership with Catholic Legal Services, Family Action Network Movement (FAMN), Americans for Immigrant Justice, American Immigration Lawyers Association - South Florida Chapter, HIAS, Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center , ABA Immigration Commission, the Venezuelan American Alliance, Hispanic Unity of Florida, the Embassy of Venezuela and the Florida Immigrant Coalition. For more information: info@ officeofnewamericans.org or 305-573-1106;1109 to make an appointment in English or Spanish.