U.S. Bill Would Grant Permanent Residency to Venezuelans Who Arrived Before 2022

If enacted, the legislation would formalize a legal pathway for a population that has grown substantially through humanitarian parole and temporary protections, testing whether Congress can move...

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz has introduced legislation that would make Venezuelan nationals in the United States eligible for lawful permanent residency, commonly known as a Green Card, according to El Nacional. The bill targets Venezuelans who entered the country before December 31, 2021, and who meet specific immigration eligibility requirements.

The proposal, as reported by El Nacional, includes two additional provisions beyond permanent residency eligibility. Qualifying applicants would receive work authorization permits during the period their applications are under review, and they would be shielded from deportation while that review is pending.

The December 31, 2021 entry cutoff date is significant because it predates the largest recorded waves of Venezuelan migration into the United States through unofficial border crossings. U.S. Customs and Border Protection data recorded more than 186,000 Venezuelan encounters at the southwest border in fiscal year 2022 and over 266,000 in fiscal year 2023, meaning individuals from those later waves would not qualify under the bill as described.

Venezuela has experienced significant population displacement over the past decade. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported in 2024 that more than 7.7 million Venezuelans had left the country, representing one of the largest displacement crises outside of active conflict zones. The United States has received a portion of that movement, though the precise number of Venezuelans currently residing in the country without permanent legal status is not established by a single authoritative figure.

The U.S. Government has previously extended temporary protections to Venezuelans. The Department of Homeland Security designated Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, in March 2021 for nationals already present in the United States, covering an estimated 320,000 people, according to DHS records. A second TPS designation covering an additional group of Venezuelans was issued in 2023. TPS does not provide a path to permanent residency, which is what the Wasserman Schultz bill would change for those who qualify.

Separately, the Biden administration launched a humanitarian parole program for Venezuelans in October 2022, allowing up to 24,000 individuals per year to enter legally with sponsorship from U.S.-based supporters. That program, also administered by DHS, was later expanded. Parole similarly does not confer permanent status.

The bill would need to clear the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over immigration legislation, before reaching a floor vote. The current composition of Congress and the committee's legislative agenda will be central factors in whether the bill advances. As of the date of this report, no committee hearing date had been announced, and no Senate companion bill had been identified in public records.

Legislation offering nationality-specific pathways to permanent residency has precedent in U.S. Law. The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 provides a comparable mechanism for Cuban nationals who have been physically present in the United States for at least one year, allowing them to apply for permanent residency. That law has been in continuous effect for six decades and has been used as a reference point in debates over how to treat other nationalities facing comparable political conditions in their home countries.

Representative Wasserman Schultz represents Florida's 25th congressional district, which includes portions of Miami-Dade County, an area with one of the largest Venezuelan diaspora communities in the United States. The demographic composition of her constituency is relevant context for understanding the bill's introduction, though it does not by itself indicate the bill's prospects in the broader chamber.

What would clarify the bill's legislative trajectory includes a full text of the legislation, a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate, and any formal response from the House Judiciary Committee or the Department of Homeland Security. None of those documents were publicly available at the time of publication.