Venezuelans in US have 60 days before facing threat of deportation; local Venezuelan leader in Miami speaks out
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States now have about 60 days before they face the threat of deportation after the Trump administration terminated Temporary Protected Status for them.
This most recent escalation of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration eliminates the right to stay of more than 300,000 people.
The move comes as a one-two punch for Venezuelans who were already reeling from last week’s decision to rescind an 18-month extension of TPS, an extension introduced in the final days of the outgoing Biden administration.
Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the Trump administration’s decision to terminate TPS for thousands of Venezuelans.
“Well, the TPP program has been abused, and it doesn’t have integrity right now,” said Noem. “We are ending that extension of that program, adding some integrity back into it, and this administration is evaluating all of our programs to make sure they truly are something that’s to the benefit of the United States, so that they’re not to the benefit of criminals.”
The decision will affect more than 300,000 Venezuelans who had TPS through April. It gives them just 60 days before becoming vulnerable to deportation.
The New York Times reported that another group of more than 250,000 people protected through September will not be affected — for now.
“Right now, we need to do something to stop that decision, because for us, it’s a reason of living or dying,” said Jose Colina with the organization “Venezolanos Perseguidos Políticos en el Exilio.”
The revocations of TPS are certain to have profound effects in Florida, which has the largest number of TPS beneficiaries out of any state, more than half of whom are from Venezuela.
“All people from Venezuela are very sad, right? Very ‘be careful,’ you know, because I don’t know what’s going on with this situation,” said Colina. “A lot of people are in danger right now.”
All of this comes just days after Venezuela had agreed to take back migrants deported from the U.S., following a meeting between President Nicolás Maduro and senior Trump administration official Richard Grenell.
Friday’s meeting also led to the release of six U.S. detainees held in the South American country.
As for Sunday’s decision, hundreds of thousands of people are now faced with an uncertain future.
“We are not numbers, we are human beings,” said Colina. “You know, working, good jobs, follow the law. Why [do they] now make a decision that’s very bad for 600,000 people living in the United States?”
(Source: Cable News Network, Inc. & NY Times)