With temporary status for Venezuelans, the Biden administration turns to a familiar tool

MEXICO CITY — From a White House podium in May, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas outlined new legal pathways to the United States for Venezuelans and others, along with a “very clear” message for those who come illegally. Jeremy MacGillivray, deputy representative of the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration in Mexico, declined to predict the impact of the TPS expansion but said, based on past experience, that “it is likely that measures of this kind, even when positive, encourage people to set out.” Smugglers sell their services by saying, “Look, President Biden announced the expansion of this measure for Venezuelans, now is the time to come to the border,” MacGillivray said. Pedro Luis Guerra, a Venezuelan who lived in a Chicago police station lobby after reaching the city in April with his wife and young child, said TPS will be “a great help” to his family. Guerra said Venezuelans closely follow U.S. immigration policy news but this week’s developments won’t encourage more to come because “those who arrive after July, this law won’t apply to them, so for them the situation remains the same.” Jenny Martínez, a 39-year-old nurse who saw her salary eaten up by inflation back home, said conditions there are “too terrible” and Venezuelans are so desperate that many will try to reach the U.S. regardless of what awaits them in terms of legal status.