What We're Watching

Biden approves hundreds of thousands of work-visas for Venezuelan migrants

Undocumented Immigrants from West Africa, Mexico, and Venezuela camp outside the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.
Undocumented Immigrants from West Africa, Mexico, and Venezuela camp outside the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.
Catherine Nance / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Reuters

As President Joe Biden left the Big Apple last night, his administration announced that Venezuelans already in the country could legally live and work in the US for the next 18 months.

The decision will affect 472,000 Venezuelans nationwide and roughly half of New York City’s migrants, letting them support themselves and easing the strain on New York’s social safety net. (For more on the situation in New York, see our explainer).


The bigger picture:
Adams is pushing Biden to extend the authorization to migrants from other nations, but the White House is wary that a broad policy could incentivize even more migrants to cross the border. On the national level, Democratic leaders fear the GOP could sweep suburban house districts in 2024 by weaponizing the migrant issue, as they did with crime in 2022.

More For You

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at a court to attend a hearing to review his arrest warrant requested by special prosecutors in Seoul, South Korea, July 9, 2025.
REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool/File Photo

5: The number of years South Korea’s ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced in prison today, on charges related to his failed attempt to impose martial law last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting of the State Council on youth policy in Moscow, Russia, on December 22, 2022.
Sputnik/Sergey Guneev/Pool via REUTERS

The Russian president said little when the US seized Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, an ally of Moscow. But there might be a reason for his silence.