Freshman Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) has falsely accused Senator Marco Rubio (R) of refusing to “support TPS for Venezuelans,” alleging that the senior senator from Florida has been presented with “numerous opportunities” to do so.
Rep. Mucarsel-Powell adds that if Sen. Rubio really wanted Venezuelans to receive TPS, “he will support TPS for Venezuelans and ask the Trump administration to do the same.”
Senator Rubio has had numerous opportunities to support TPS for Venezuelans, and he has refused.
If @marcorubio truly wants to stand with the Venezuelan people yearning for democracy, he will support TPS for Venezuelans and ask the Trump administration to do the same. pic.twitter.com/AvZ7MRpvDp
— Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (@RepDMP) October 27, 2020
Mucarsel-Powell’s passion to push TPS for Venezuelans is well-placed, but that very passion appears to have clouded her memory about Rubio's position on the Venezuela issue, considering that Sen. Rubio is the co-sponsor of the bipartisan Senate Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2019
The claim that Rubio has refused to support “TPS for Venezuelans” is patently false.
Rubio, along with Florida Senator Rick Scott (R), has been urging President Donald Trump to grant TPS to Venezuela, but the administration has not responded to how supporters of TPS would have liked.
On March 7, 2019, Rubio, along with 23 other Senators, penned a letter to President Trump urging him to make the TPS designation for Venezuelans.
“As the United States and our partners in the international community have condemned the illegitimate Maduro regime’s brutal campaign of repression, granting TPS to Venezuela is a concrete measure your Administration can immediately take to alleviate the suffering of innocent Venezuelan civilians and to demonstrate our nation’s commitment to supporting a safe democratic transition in Venezuela so that individuals can safely return home soon,” stated the Senators.
Months later, Rubio said that he and the White House were still in discussion about how to proceed with Venezuelan TPS and making progress, but did not say if an agreement was close to being reached.
It’s October 2020 and the Trump administration still has not acted on Rubio and Scott’s continued request for TPS designation for Venezuelans.
Scott expressed his disappointment in the Trump administration's failure to act on the Venezuelan crisis, even though it has levied unprecedented sanctions against the criminal regime of Nicolas Maduro.
“We need to find a solution now to allow TPS for Venezuelans,” stated Scott “Maduro is killing his citizens. It’s a genocide. Every passing day, the situation on the ground grows worse. I’m disappointed that the Administration has so far declined to approve TPS for Venezuelans, though I do understand their concerns about approving TPS without reforming the program. The courts have basically made a temporary program permanent, which is not sustainable. We need to protect the vulnerable Venezuelan population while making sure human rights violators are clearly identified as ineligible. I’m working with my colleagues on legislative solutions to this problem and am committed to working across the aisle to resolve any concerns.”
Earlier this month, both Senate Democrats and Republicans, blamed one another after the latest version of Rubio’s TPS for Venezuela bill failed after
