The Venezuelans left in limbo by new US immigration plan
Venezuelans who fled their country to make a better life in the United States face a grim reality.
For now, they will remain on a waiting list for more than two years with no plan in place to move them anywhere else in the world, a situation that threatens their lives, jobs and families, a new report says.
For many, the process is becoming a death sentence.
“We must continue our efforts to secure the freedom and dignity of the Venezuelan refugees,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.
He outlined a new “humanitarian” plan that would cover over 200,000 people. But he said President Barack Obama was unable to confirm that Venezuela could accept them permanently because the country’s government had not yet cooperated with US efforts to open its doors to refugees.
“We are heartened by the progress made in reaching out to this humanitarian crisis,” Kerry said. “We have called on the Venezuelan government to accept our country’s refugees and we are optimistic that this humanitarian crisis can be resolved in a productive manner.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, said he would consider a possible solution to the problem with the United States.
“If the United States of America will accept our refugee who is in need of humanitarian help for a better life, I will be able to make a decision as to how we will solve this problem,” Maduro said.
The new plan says the United States needs to provide a comprehensive resettlement program for the Venezuelan refugees as well as visas and a place to stay in the United States, starting July 1, 2014.
For the moment, however, there is no solid plan on what that could be – and it is unclear how long that could take.
“There is no immediate plan to repatriate the Venezuelan refugees to their homeland, but the plan is to assist them with a humanitarian