Many Venezuelans are preparing to leave the U.S. after temporary protected status expired for over 300,000 of them, according to the Washington Post.
Last month, the Supreme Court allowed President Trump’s administration to revoke legal protections for Venezuelan migrants, issuing an emergency order that paused a lower court ruling by Judge Edward Chen, who had found the move unlawful. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) enables individuals from certain countries to work in the U.S. temporarily. According to the Washington Post, many Venezuelans are now closing businesses, selling homes, and booking flights to leave the country following the order.
“These are people who did everything by the book, paid taxes, had no criminal records, opened businesses, and contributed to their communities,” Venezuelan American activist Adelys Ferro claimed in a statement to the Post. “Now from one day to the other they’re subject to deportation and have become collateral damage in this cruel, unjust, and inhumane political game.”
A 56-year-old Venezuelan journalist also claimed the U.S. government was “essentially sending us back into the hands of our jailer.”
“There’s just no winning: You can stay here and risk ending up in a detention center or go back to Venezuela and end up in El Helicoide,” he said, referring to a known torture center in his homeland.
Congress established TPS in 1990 to halt deportations to countries facing natural disasters, conflict, or other crises. The Homeland Security secretary has the authority to grant the designation.
Trump has made tightening both legal and illegal immigration a key focus of his second term, moving to end temporary protections for certain migrants and widen the pool of deportees. The Biden administration had granted TPS to Venezuelans in 2021 and 2023 and extended it to October 2026 just days before Trump took office.
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