On July 30, the U.S. Senate rejected an appeal to speed up the discussion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) bill for Venezuelan citizens in the U.S which makes it easier for them to obtain U.S. citizenship. The bill had been approved by the House of Representatives several weeks ago. Senators will thus continue to discuss the measure after the summer recess which finishes on Sept. 9.

During the July 30 session, Democratic Senators Bob Menendez and Dick Durbin presented a proposal to accelerate draft bill 549, which implied exempting it from the commissions stage and meant that, for the bill to pass, no senator could oppose it. However, Republican Senator Mike Lee spoke against it because “it’s an important measure that needs to be carefully studied.” The measure and its dispatch to committee have been left pending for September, when the ordinary sessions of the U.S. Senate resume.

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