Title: Venezuela Day

Summary: Recognizing April 24, 2019, as "Venezuela Day" in Florida, etc.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, the number of Venezuelan students in Miami-Dade County public schools has soared in recent years, almost doubling to 9,873 from August 2015 to August 2017, and, as of the latter date, Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Senior High School had Venezuelan students out of a total student body of approximately 2,500, and WHEREAS, a 2013 Pew Research Center survey showed that more than half of Venezuelans in the United States who were years of age or older held at least a bachelor s degree, and WHEREAS, Central Florida is now home to 140,000 Venezuelan residents, approximately 38,000 of whom are United States citizens, a number that has grown over the last year as the South American nation has spiraled into political and economic upheaval, and WHEREAS, according to the Pew Research Center, Venezuelans accounted for 10,221 asylum applications filed between October 2015 and June 2016, which was up from 3,810 filed during the same period the year before, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: That April 24, 2019, is recognized as  Venezuela Day  in Florida.