NEW YORK (PIX11) – They were given Temporary Protected Status Because their country is too unsafe to return. But now, thousands of Venezuelans will be open to potential deportation when their protections come to an end as soon as in two months.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristin Noem revoked the Biden administration's decision to extend TPS for this group of migrants through October 2026.
On a rainy late Friday evening, Carmen, her husband, and her dog ‘miel,’ walked out of the asylum seeker help center in Midtown, hoping for a miracle from God, she said in Spanish.
That miracle, staying in the United States following the end of her TPS. A program allowing a group of Venezuelans who came to this country in 2021 and before August 2023 with work permits and protection from deportation.
Nationwide, roughly 600,000 people from Venezuela have Temporary Protected status.
PIX11 News has learned from a worker close to the operation at this center that they have helped about 11,000 Venezuelans apply for TPS since 2023.
“It is inhuman to even consider sending them back home to that dictatorship,” said Erick Ronso, who leads the NYC Venezuelan movement. He is worried that the future of many of his compatriots will be in limbo.
“2023 is supposed to expire by April of this year, whereas the 2021 is supposed to expire by the end of the year. October,” added Ronso.
Meanwhile, Trump diplomatic envoy Richard Grenell posted a picture on X following his meeting with Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro. With the caption, “We are wheels up and headed back home with these six American citizens. They just spoke to Donald Trump and couldn’t stop thanking him.” In addition to returning from Venezuela with U.S. detainees, Grenell had another instruction from President Trump.
“Richard Grenell has been instructed to identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights of ‘Tren de Aragua’ members of Venezuelan nationals who have broken our nation’s law will land in Venezuela will land in Venezuela,” stated White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
And escaping Maduro’s dictatorship, Carmen said, is the reason she left Venezuela. A country she says she can’t go back to.
Venezuelans in New York City are the largest immigrant group living in NYC migrant shelters.
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