WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration has extended for 18 months the temporary protected status to about 600,000 Venezuelans living under the program in the United States, 10 days before President Joe Biden is set to leave office, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.

The extension of the TPS program for Venezuelan nationals is "due to extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent eligible Venezuelan nationals from safely returning" to their country, the department said, citing the "severe humanitarian emergency" Venezuela currently faces.

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