II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 636 

To designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality 

Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary protected status under such section. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. 

BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela 

to be eligible for temporary protected status under such 

section. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Venezuela Temporary 

5 Protected Status Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Venezuela is enduring an unprecedented 

2 economic, humanitarian, security, and refugee crisis, 

3 consisting of extreme food and medicine shortages, 

4 severe infant and child malnutrition, rampant crime, 

5 and government-sponsored repression. 

6 (2) Venezuela’s economic crisis continues 

7 unabated and the International Monetary Fund 

8 projects that inflation in Venezuela could reach an 

9 annual rate of 10,000,000 percent in 2019. 

10 (3) As evidence of the humanitarian crisis cre11 ated by Venezuela’s systemic economic turmoil— 

12 (A) more than 9,000,000 people in Ven13 ezuela are eating 2 or fewer meals a day; and 

14 (B) approximately 75 percent of the popu15 lation have reported losing an average of— 

16 (i) 19 pounds in 2016; and 

17 (ii) 24 pounds in 2017. 

18 (4) Moderate to severe malnutrition among 

19 Venezuelan children under 5 years of age increased 

20 by more than 50 percent in 2017, and approximately 

21 300,000 Venezuelan children are at risk of dying 

22 from malnutrition, according to Ca ́ritas de Ven23 ezuela, a Catholic humanitarian organization. 

24 (5) Pharmacies in Venezuela have shortages of 

25 approximately 85 percent of needed medicines and 


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1 76 percent of public hospitals lack the basic medi2 cines that should be available in any functional pub3 lic hospital, including those that are on the World 

4 Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. 

5 (6) As evidence of the significant effect that 

6 Venezuela’s economic crisis on public health, Ven7 ezuela’s Health Ministry reported that in 2016— 

8 (A) there was a 30-percent increase in the 

9 infant mortality rate; and 

10 (B) there was a 65-percent increase in the 

11 maternal mortality rate. 

12 (7) Violent crime in Venezuela has risen sharply 

13 and the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, an inde14 pendent nongovernmental organization, calculated 

15 the national per capita murder rate to be 89 per 

16 100,000 people in 2017. 

17 (8) According to Citizens Council for Public 

18 Safety and Criminal Justice, Caracas was the most 

19 dangerous capital city in the world in 2017, with 

20 111 murders per 100,000 residents. 

21 (9) According to the United Nations Human 

22 Rights Office of the High Commissioner— 

23 (A) Venezuelan intelligence and security 

24 forces have increasingly used arbitrary arrests 

25 and detentions to repress and intimidate civil 


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1 society, political opponents, and any voices of 

2 dissent; and 

3 (B) between 2015 and 2017, at least 505 

4 people including 24 children, were executed by 

5 Venezuelan security forces, leading the Inter6 national Criminal Court prosecutor to announce 

7 a preliminary investigation into the use of ex8 cessive force in Venezuela. 

9 (10) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Na10 tions High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated, 

11 ‘‘The failure to hold security forces accountable for 

12 such serious human rights violations suggests that 

13 the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela.’’. 

14 (11) According to the United Nations High 

15 Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 

16 3,400,000 Venezuelans have left their country for 

17 reasons such as violence, political oppression, eco18 nomic hardship, and the ongoing humanitarian cri19 sis. 

20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of the Congress that— 

22 (1) Venezuela’s economic, humanitarian, secu23 rity, and refugee crisis has resulted in extraordinary 

24 and temporary conditions that currently prevent 


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1 Venezuelan nationals from safely returning to Ven2 ezuela; and 

3 (2) Venezuela should be designated under sub4 section (b)(1)(C) of section 244 of the Immigration 

5 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a) for a period 

6 of 18 months to permit nationals of Venezuela to be 

7 eligible for temporary protected status in accordance 

8 with such section. 

9 SEC. 4. DESIGNATION FOR PURPOSES OF GRANTING TEM10 PORARY PROTECTED STATUS. 

11 (a) DESIGNATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 244 

13 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1254a), Venezuela shall be treated as if it had been 

15 designated under subsection (b)(1)(C) of that sec16 tion, subject to the provisions of this section. 

17 (2) PERIOD OF DESIGNATION.—The initial pe18 riod of the designation referred to in paragraph (1) 

19 shall be for the 18-month period beginning on the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 (b) ALIENS ELIGIBLE.—As a result of the designa22 tion made under subsection (a), an alien who is a national 

23 of Venezuela is deemed to satisfy the requirements under 

24 paragraph (1) of section 244(c) of the Immigration and 


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1 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)), subject to paragraph 

2 (3) of such section, if the alien— 

3 (1) has been continuously physically present in 

4 the United States since the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act; 

6 (2) is admissible as an immigrant, except as 

7 otherwise provided in paragraph (2)(A) of such sec8 tion, and is not ineligible for temporary protected 

9 status under paragraph (2)(B) of such section; and 

10 (3) registers for temporary protected status in 

11 a manner established by the Secretary of Homeland 

12 Security. 

13 (c) CONSENT TO TRAVEL ABROAD.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

15 Security shall give prior consent to travel abroad, in 

16 accordance with section 244(f)(3) of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(f)(3)), to 

18 an alien who is granted temporary protected status 

19 pursuant to the designation made under subsection 

20 (a) if the alien establishes to the satisfaction of the 

21 Secretary of Homeland Security that emergency and 

22 extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the 

23 alien require the alien to depart for a brief, tem24 porary trip abroad. 


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1 (2) TREATMENT UPON RETURN.—An alien re2 turning to the United States in accordance with an 

3 authorization described in paragraph (1) shall be 

4 treated as any other returning alien provided tem5 porary protected status under section 244 of the Im6 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a). 

7 SEC. 5. IMPROVING INTERNAL MIGRATION SYSTEMS IN 

8 COUNTRIES SURROUNDING VENEZUELA. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con10 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall 

11 work with international partners, including the United 

12 Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to support and 

13 provide technical assistance to improve the domestic ca14 pacity of countries surrounding Venezuela and in the re15 gion to provide migration services and asylum to eligible 

16 Venezuelan citizens— 

17 (1) by establishing and expanding temporary 

18 and long-term, in-country reception centers and shel19 ter capacity in those surrounding countries to meet 

20 the humanitarian needs of Venezuelan migrants or 

21 Venezuelans seeking asylum or other forms of inter22 national protection; 

23 (2) by improving migration and asylum reg24 istration systems in those surrounding countries to 


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1 ensure that Venezuelan migrants and Venezuelans 

2 seeking asylum or other humanitarian protection— 

3 (A) receive due process and meaningful ac4 cess to legal protections; and 

5 (B) receive proper documents in order to 

6 prevent fraud and facilitate freedom of move7 ment and access to basic social services; 

8 (3) by supporting the creation or expansion of 

9 a corps of trained migration and asylum officers 

10 from those countries who are capable of— 

11 (A) providing migration services; and 

12 (B) evaluating and deciding individual asy13 lum claims consistent with international law 

14 and obligations; and 

15 (4) by developing the capacity to conduct best 

16 interest determinations for Venezuelan migrants to 

17 ensure that their needs are properly met. 

18 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

20 in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

21 shall submit a strategy describing plans for assisting the 

22 development of the international asylum processing capa23 bilities described in subsection (a) to— 

24 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

25 Senate; 


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1 (2) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen2 ate; 

3 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives; 

7 (5) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

8 House of Representatives; and 

9 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

13 appropriated to the Secretary of State $10,000,000 

14 for fiscal year 2019 to carry out the activities set 

15 forth in subsection (b), in accordance with this sec16 tion. 

17 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

19 under subparagraph (B), amounts appropriated 

20 or otherwise made available pursuant to para21 graph (1) may not be obligated until 15 days 

22 after the date on which the President provides 

23 notice to the committees listed in subsection (b) 

24 of the intent to obligate such funds. 

25 (B) WAIVER.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

2 State may waive the requirement under 

3 subparagraph (A) if the Secretary of State 

4 determines that such waiver is in the na5 tional interest of the United States. 

6 (ii) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—If 

7 a waiver is invoked under clause (i), the 

8 President shall notify the committees listed 

9 in subsection (b) of the intention to obli10 gate funds under this section as early as 

11 practicable, but not later than 3 days after 

12 taking the action to which such notification 

13 requirement was applicable in the context 

14 of the circumstances necessitating such 

15 waiver. 

Æ 


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