Trump Administration’s Crackdown Leaves Venezuelan Immigrants in Limbo

Alejandro and his fiancée first arrived in the U.S. in November 2022, as part of the first batch of beneficiaries of the Biden administration’s Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV) parole program. Leaving behind their life in Venezuela, they were overjoyed to be reunited with Alejandro’s parents, who first arrived in 2017 seeking life-saving cancer treatment for his mother. As of 2024, the whole family had found stability and quality of life through the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program — a stability that is now threatened by the promise of mass deportations under the Trump administration.

“At night, I suffer from a nervous cough, so I’ve been coughing for about two weeks without being sick, as my anxiety causes discomfort in my throat,” said Alejandro, who is using a pseudonym to protect himself from potential deportation. Since arriving in the U.S., Alejandro has found work in engineering and was just beginning to prepare for a brighter future. He and his fiancée planned to marry later this year, buy a house, and start considering having children. Now, all their funds will go toward lawyers.

On Feb. 3, Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem officially terminated the extension of the TPS for Venezuela, issued only a few weeks earlier by former Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. This decision could leave 348,202 of the approximately 600,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S. under the 2023 designation without legal status or right to work as soon as April 7, while the other half who registered under the 2021 designation could face the same situation in September.

TPS was first introduced as part of the Immigration Act of 1990 to provide protections from deportation, work permits, and, in some cases, travel authorizations for immigrants who can’t return to their countries due to wars, environmental disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances. As of 2025, 17 countries, including Venezuela, are designated for TPS, but recent messaging from the Trump administration as well as Donald Trump’s track record of attempting to overturn the program has created a wave of fear and distress for immigrants across the U.S.

Two weeks after Noem announced the termination, two different lawsuits were introduced in California and Maryland to appeal it, as was previously done during Trump’s first term. But could his administration actually succeed this time? Cara Jobson, an immigration attorney at Wiley & Jobson, said it’s unlikely.

“This happened during the last Trump presidency, where there was a cancellation of TPS by Trump. And then there was litigation, and that litigation actually was quite successful to the extent that it protected people,” said Jobson, who was not involved in that litigation. Jobson said lawyers had argued that Trump’s attempts to terminate TPS violated the Administrative Procedure Act and were racially motivated. “Obviously, Trump is quite hostile to TPS, and whether the litigation will be as successful as before remains to be seen, but we certainly hope so.”

In the meantime, Jobson and other immigration lawyers across the country are trying to find other pathways to protect immigrants who are worried about losing their statuses, including asylum, an option for those who fear returning to Venezuela due to the political situation and the dangerous conditions.

Alejandro is part of this group. His family has a long-standing history of being affiliated with opposition political parties, and he has participated in demonstrations against the Nicolás Maduro regime. What’s more, going back to Venezuela means losing his ability to provide for his family and risk losing his mother, as the medicines needed to keep her in remission are scarce there.

In addition to challenges against TPS, immigrants like Alejandro who entered the country through Joe Biden’s humanitarian parole programs or the Customs and Border Protection app CBP One might encounter hurdles before being able to acquire a different status, as they are considered by the Trump administration to be in the U.S. illegally. On Feb. 14, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indefinitely paused all pending applications from paroled immigrants, citing fraud and security concerns. Jobson said that these claims could be easily debunked.

“(These immigrants) went to the airport or the border and were stamped and let in. Even if he wanted to cancel the program, I don’t see how they can say that these people weren’t admitted or paroled,” Jobson said. “But a lot of this is in flux right now.”

While lawyers work to find solutions to protect TPS holders, members of advocacy groups are organizing to line up support outside of courts. Adelys Ferro, the executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, is spearheading efforts to organize the Venezuelan community across the U.S. to reach out to members of Congress. As of Feb. 23, the campaign has sent 66,515 letters to representatives all over the country to show that, even though the Venezuelan diaspora is recently established and small compared to others, the community brings a lot to the table.

“There are states, like Florida, that have sent thousands of letters to their different congressmen and senators,” Ferro said. “We have no hope that this support will make the Trump administration change its way of thinking, but for each of us, it does matter because we elected those people. All of this is added to what we plan to do very soon in the courts.”

One of the main goals of her recent advocacy work is to fight misinformation against Venezuelans spread by the Trump administration, which has often lumped TPS holders together with members of the criminal gang Tren de Aragua.

“Not a single TPS holder has been identified as a member of Tren de Aragua. And that is not an opinion. That is data from the FBI, the Department of Justice, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], USCIS,” Ferro said.

As April 7 looms, there is little to no certainty for Venezuelans and TPS beneficiaries from other countries, like Haitians, who are expected to lose their protection status on Aug. 3. Advocacy groups are holding immigrant rights workshops for citizens and people with legal status who want to get involved. Latinx-focused news outlets have developed informational guides for those who wonder if they are in danger. In the worst cases, immigrants are already filing guardianship documents to protect their children from going into foster care if they are deported. And 350,000 people have less than two months to figure out their future.

“It hurts,” Alejandro said. “The government wants to make us all illegal. … We are not bad people. We just came here to work.”

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