Venezuelan migrants urgently apply for TPS status as deportations resume

A new expansion of temporary protected status, better known as TPS, could be a game changer for nearly half a million qualifying Venezuelan migrants, at a time when repatriation flights to deport certain Venezuelans are expected to resume.

In New York City, Jhonnattan was among the first to apply for TPS this week, after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started accepting applications from Venezuelans who have been continuously residing in the U.S. by July 31.

Jhonnattan, who is only being identified by his first name because of his current legal status, has a pending asylum case that can take years to resolve. Getting TPS could mean having some kind of temporary relief sooner, since those applications are more likely to be processed quicker than asylum claims, immigrant rights advocates said.

Jhonnattan, who served in the military back in Venezuela, said he first left his homeland in 2017 and settled in neighboring Colombia after facing death threats and surviving a gun attack. He said he spent six months in a prison after being caught up in the rising political turmoil and protests against President Nicolás Maduro, whose leftist regime has eviscerated Venezuela’s democratic institutions and helped drive much of the nation into poverty.

“That’s when I said to myself, ‘I have to get out of here because they’re going to kill me,’” he told NBC News in Spanish.

After a few years in Colombia, Jhonnattan started fearing for his safety again after he saw that country's leadership soften its approach to Maduro’s regime as reports emerged that a high-profile Maduro ally was requesting the return of “people who were against the government as well as the military who were asking for political asylum in Colombia,” he said.

That’s when Jhonnattan decided to head to the U.S., which had sought to push Maduro out through sanctions and isolation, he said.

With TPS, recipients can remain and work in the U.S. for 18 months without fear of deportation. The federal government can extend the protection if conditions are still unstable in their home countries. Asylees, those who are granted asylum, can additionally apply for a Social Security card, request permission to travel overseas and petition to bring family members to the U.S. Migrants can apply for TPS and asylum at the same time.

“I’m told that getting political asylum takes a long time, too long,” Jhonnattan said. “It’s somewhat difficult, and yes, hard.”

His asylum application is among the more than 1.3 million still awaiting processing as of May. In fiscal year 2021, Venezuelans accounted for nearly 12% of those granted asylum, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Jhonnattan arrived to New York City on June 2022. Unlike many migrants who don't have family or connections, he was able to stay with members of his extended family who live in the city. In order to provide for his parents and two children still in Venezuela, he borrowed a bicycle and biked around Queens looking for work. He found a job assembling and fixing furniture. Three months later, he started renting a room and living on his own.

He recently got his driver’s license and started a second job as a driver. New York is one of 18 states that allow noncitizens to get a driver's license.

“It's time to give it my all to whatever comes my way and always keep my head held high and stay positive," he said.

Jhonnattan is among the more than 100,000 migrants who have arrived in New York City over the past year, when Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began putting migrants who came into the U.S. through the Texas border on buses and sending them to New York and other Democratic-run cities.

Applying, becoming independent

NBC News spoke with five different Latino and immigration rights organizations in New York City that have been preparing to assist Venezuelans with their TPS applications and also providing legal and educational workshops and consultations.

Among the biggest groups doing this work are the New York Immigration Coalition, the Hispanic Federation and the New York Legal Assistance Group. There are also some smaller organizations providing crucial guidance to Venezuelans.

Project Rousseau, an organization offering immigration services, has helped nearly 200 asylum-seekers, many from Venezuela, file their TPS applications over the past week. They're also organizing a TPS clinic later this month, hoping to submit 500 applications for about 100 families, said founder and executive director Andrew Heinrich. A similar event is also scheduled for Nov. 29.

Democrats who advocated for the latest TPS designation said it would improve the ability of Venezuelans, who are estimated to be half of the migrants coming into New York City, to become more independent and be less reliant on city services such as shelters.

"They will be able to get into the economic ecosystem of the city," said Jesús Aguais, a Venezuelan native and the executive director of AID for AIDS, a group that has been working with Venezuelan asylum-seekers who now qualify for TPS.

"We will be able to fill [employment] positions in a legal way, people will be able to start paying taxes, and they will get out of the shelter system, although they are already getting out of the shelter system," he said.

A local mandate requires New York City to provide shelter and basic services to anyone regardless of immigration status.

AID for AIDS holds educational workshops twice a week and legal clinics once a month with Venezuelan paralegals who fly in from Miami to provide culturally competent services as they apply for asylum, TPS and work permits, he said.

Niurka Meléndez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker and the director and founder of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid, said that even with TPS or another kinds of deportation protections it's still difficult to have "enough to buy a place or rent an apartment [and] show a credit history to be able to lease a place."

Meléndez's organization hosts virtual workshops with an attorney to explain the nuances of the different legal pathways migrants can seek when they arrive in the U.S. She said that oftentimes people from different states, and even Venezuela, listen in to then pass on the information to relatives who are heading to the U.S.

New York City officials have said they are also ramping up immigration case management efforts to be able to process the large number of applications.

They hope to "do hundreds of TPS appointments per day in November," Masha Gindler, executive director of the New York City Asylum Application Help, said in a news conference Wednesday. "Our goal is to really make outreach to identify, screen and make appointments for all eligible Venezuelans by the end of the year."

Deportations resume as protections expand

Only Venezuelans like Jhonnatan, who have been in the U.S. before the end of July, can apply for TPS — a protection currently available to other vulnerable populations from 15 other countries such as Ukraine and Afghanistan due to ongoing armed conflict and El Salvador and Nicaragua due to the impacts of environmental disasters.

The federal government said it will soon restart repatriation flights, after Venezuelan authorities agreed to accept the return of deported Venezuelan nationals who crossed the U.S. border unlawfully and were not able to establish a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

Jodi Ziesemer, director of the immigrant protection unit at the New York Legal Assistance Group, told NBC News she believes the repatriations will likely impact Venezuelans who recently arrived to the U.S. or who will be arriving without having a visa. Despite resuming deportations to Venezuela, immigration authorities must provide credible fear interviews to anyone looking to claim asylum.

Venezuelans who have arrived to the U.S. over the past two months may be vulnerable to deportation unless they are in the middle of applying for asylum or other protections, Ziesemer said.

The Biden administration had previously made TPS available to Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. before March 9, 2021, and last year extended their protections to allow those migrants to remain in the U.S. until March 2024.

Those applying under the most recent designation will be able to remain in the U.S. until April 2025.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com