A stream of people flowed through the basement of St. Teresa’s church in Manhattan Friday.

Catholic Charities of New York set up tables at a pop-up clinic to help Venezuelan migrants fill out immigration forms.

“Excellent. I’m grateful for the help. I’ve been getting help about processing and stuff that I didn’t know,” Carlos Peñaloza said through a translator.

What You Need To Know

  • Catholic Charities of New York held a clinic to help migraines fill out TPS applications

  • The Biden Administration announced offering Temporary Protected status to Venezuelans in September

  • Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are eligible

  • To be eligible, they need to have tooth arrived before or on July 31

Carlos Peñaloza waits for his appointment. He describes his journey from Venezuela to New York.

“I went through Ecuador and Mexico. It was smooth.” We turned ourselves into immigration and this was when this whole process started,” Peñaloza said through a translator.

Peñaloza applied for asylum through Catholic Charities and has been living on Long Island for a year with his sister, who already lived here.

Now he’s applying for Temporary Protected Status or TPS which could get him work authorization quicker.

Christa Temple is the manager of legal services at Catholic Charities. All the clients at the clinic on Friday were returning clients.

“It’s a very tangible way to see the work happening in real life and a good way to get connected to our fellow New Yorkers,” Temple said.

As many as 10,000 new New Yorkers, migrants from Venezuela could qualify for TPS. In September, the Biden administration opened up TPS to nearly a half a million Venezuelan migrants who must have arrived in the United States by July 31.

“It is probably the most immediate need for Venezuelan nationals in New York City. It allows them a temporary status to stay in the US,” Temple said.

Under TPS, a migrant is given legal status for 18 months. Being granted TPS status can take months, but being granted permission to work can be quicker. Still, it’s often faster than applying for asylum, then waiting  180 days to apply to work.

“I want to work with a company that pays me well and I can use my abilities to help the company,” Peñaloza said through a translator.

Peñaloza used to work in construction management before coming to New York.

“Hopefully everything goes well and I expect to have a future here in this country,” Peñaloza said through a translator.

Catholic Charities encourage people to seek their services through the New Americans Hotline 1-800-566-7636 or to reach out by calling 311 and asking for “Action NYC.”

Catholic Charities is holding three more pop up legal clinics like this one before the end of the year. The most recent clinic was only able to fit-in a couple of dozen, people thousands are eligible to apply.