Florida leaders urge new TPS for Venezuelan and Haitian migrants

Congress members and local officials in South Florida are pressing the U.S. administration to redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan migrants, citing the recent magnitude‑7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that killed at least 920 people and intensified the country's humanitarian crisis. Republican Representative María Elvira Salazar, Representative Carlos Giménez, Doral Mayor Christy Fraga and other officials sent a letter to the Trump administration demanding a new TPS designation, arguing that deporting hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans would be unsafe.

At the same time, Venezuelan and Haitian community groups in Miami are lobbying Congress for a separate TPS extension for Haitians after the Supreme Court allowed the termination of TPS for 350,000 Haitian nationals. Activists highlighted that the Haitian TPS expires on 1 July, while Venezuelan TPS coverage for about 800,000 people is set to end in October. They urged passage of Senate bill S.4814 and cited support from Florida senators Rick Scott, Ashley Moody and state senator Shevrin Jones. Both sides seek congressional action to keep migrants legally present and able to work in the United States.