Menendez Statement on Biden Administration's Parole Program and Title 42 Expansion for Venezuelans

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the Biden Administration's announcement of a Parole Program and Title 42 Expansion for Venezuelans:

"While replicating the successful model of Uniting for Ukraine to Venezuelans is the right thing to do, and I commend the Biden Administration for creating a new legal pathway for Venezuelans forced to flee Maduro's misery, I cannot support any program that creates additional requirements for Venezuelans and is coupled with an inexcusable expansion of Trump's Title 42. Expanding Title 42 to now include Venezuelans adds salt to an open wound while further eroding our asylum system that President Biden promised to restore."

"It is my hope that the Biden Administration reconsiders the expulsion of additional Venezuelans under Title 42, and instead, affords Venezuelan refugees fleeing Maduro the same opportunities that were rightfully granted to Ukrainians fleeing Putin. Unlike Ukrainians, this program creates an automatic disqualification for Venezuelans who have risked their lives to find temporary refuge in Panama and Mexico. Under this new program, more Venezuelans will be expelled under Title 42 than are eligible for parole. Likewise, the administration must continue to pursue their original goal of ending Title 42 in the courts, redesignating TPS for Venezuelans in the United States, and most importantly, expanding refugee resettlement processing for Venezuelans so they have permanent protections in the United States."

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