The federal government’s announcement that it was granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country was met with immediate applause in the city.

But five days later, many Venezuelans in New York still don’t know when they will be able to legally work.

What You Need To Know

  • The federal government is granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country
  • An estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31 will get Temporary Protected Status
  • The mayor says the announcement would make about 15,000 Venezuelans in the city's care eligible for work
  • But nearly a week after the announcement, many Venezuelans tell NY1 they are waiting to get their work permits

“Up until today, no one has told us anything, not even in the shelter. There was a woman there, a doctor, who told us that we got work authorization,” said Luedel Rafael Quintero, who arrived in the city four months ago.

Quintero says that right now, he works in construction, but it isn’t enough to get by.

“We want to work. I work two days a week, but it isn’t worth it to work two days a week, especially when you have kids,” Quintero said. 

Under Temporary Protected Status, Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31 are eligible for legal status for 18 months, which allows them to apply for legal work without having to wait the normal 180 days.

City Hall and immigration experts say that they are waiting on further instructions from the federal government on helping Venezuelans apply for Temporary Protected Status.

“Usually after TPS is announced, there is a 60-day period in which people can apply to receive TPS for the first time or renew their TPS status. The administration hasn’t announced when that period of time is going to start, but we hope that they will announce it soon,” said Marlene Galaz, the director of immigrant rights policy at the New York Immigration Coalition.

Mayor Eric Adams said last week that about 15,000 Venezuelans are eligible. City officials are hoping the designation will relieve the city’s shelter system.

Temporary Protected Status is different from the asylum application many newly arrived migrants have been filling out.

Immigration advocates say the changes to Temporary Protected Status have also ushered in other positive things. 

“With this announcement of TPS, USCA also announced that they are going to be extending their current work permit duration from two years to five years for certain non-citizens, so that includes people who have been accepted as refugees, asylum seekers and TPS holders,” Galaz said.

The mayor and other advocates say other immigrant groups need support too.

Ecuadorans and Colombians make up the second- and third-largest migrant groups in the city.

“We want to work, better our lives and give my son a better future,” said Ecuadorian Joel Quintero.

Quintero came to the country with his wife and son a month ago and is staying in a Manhattan shelter.

Those who aren’t eligible for work yet say they are being resourceful. Some have become street vendors.

They told NY1 that if they were to become eligible to work, they would take any job they could get.