The Biden administration announced Monday that the Department of Homeland Security would grant temporary protection status (TPS) to Venezuelans currently living in the US. This designation is expected to apply to roughly two-thirds of Venezuelans currently in the US as of March 8.

The TPS program provides for 18 months of legal protections for Venezuelans in the US, giving them the freedom to live, work, obtain Social Security numbers, and claim tax credits and subsidies on health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in 2019 that around 300,000 Venezuelans are currently in the US either in legal nonimmigrant status or without legal status. Of those, the CBO estimated that 200,000 individuals could receive TPS, provided they apply and meet eligibility requirements.

TPS can generally be designated for certain nationalities once conditions in a country mean that nationals are unable to return safely, or where the country is unable to handle the return of its nationals. Such conditions might occur from ongoing conflict, an environmental disaster or an epidemic. In the White House press release announcing the TPS grant, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas affirmed Venezuelans’ qualifications for TPS status, calling it “a country in turmoil” and that the US would “[step] forward to support eligible Venezuelan nationals already present here, while their home country seeks to right itself out of the current crises.”

While TPS is intended to be temporary, Biden’s immigration plan would make TPS holders eligible for immediate green cards should it be signed into law, granting them permanent status as US residents. This move comes a month after the Colombian government offered the 1.7 million Venezuelans in Colombia a 10-year form of temporary protected status.

The refugee crisis from Venezuela remains one of the largest displacement crises in the world, with over 5 million Venezuelans living abroad.