The Honorable Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas

Secretary of Homeland Security - U.S Department of Homeland Security

2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Mayorkas, 

Receive our warmest greetings from the Venezuelan Community in the USA.

We are writing this letter as an initiative of the undersigned Venezuelan organizations that serve our Venezuelan community of the United States. We initially want to express our gratitude for the support you have given to our community, especially for the designation of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans on March 9th, 2021, for which its initial application process window was extended until September 9th, 2022. Many of our organizations have been assisting our community on this matter since the TPS was granted to Venezuela. We have organized forums, webinars, and legal TPS Clinics without any cost to assist our people. As a result, an estimate of 253,000 Venezuelans has filled out a TPS application.  

As known, an estimate of over 100,000 of these Venezuelans has not yet received a response on their TPS applications and work permits. Last July 11th, 2022, you publicly announced the extension of the TPS to Venezuela. We received this announcement with joy and gratitude. However, as the September 9th deadline is fast approaching, the renewal instructions in the Federal Register Notice have not yet been published, creating a lot of anxiety and uncertainty in our community due to the imminent loss of their ability to keep up with their jobs and pay rent, food, and medical services for their families. 

We hope that the DHS understands the urgency of publishing the instructions for the Venezuelan TPS renewal in the federal registry very soon, as well as consider the extension of the Work Permits for TPS Venezuelan beneficiaries. We are asking all people and organizations from the United States to join us in signing this public petition to support the Venezuela Community living in the United States. We know that you deeply care about us and that we certainly will be heard. 

We humbly thank you in advance for your time, consideration, and support.

We look forward to your prompt reply.

Very respectfully,

• Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts
• Casa Venezuela Orlando
• Casa Venezuela Philadelphia 
• Casa Venezolana Americana Emerald Coast
• Casa Venezuela Atlanta
• Casa de Venezuela JAX
• Illinois Venezuelan Alliance
• Fundación Blanca Nieve Sierra
• Venezolanos Unidos en Indiana

August 24th, 2022