DORAL, Fla. — Venezuelans living in the U.S. are shocked and devastated by a U.S. Supreme Court decision handed down Monday.
It immediately strips Temporary Protected Status, known as TPS, from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.
A legal fight over the Trump administration order ending TPS is now playing out in lower courts.
In an unsigned order, the Supreme Court intervened, stripping TPS immediately from a group of Venezuelans whose status expired in April.
Gonzalez lives in central Florida and is part of a group of some 250,000 Venezuelans whose temporary protected status expires in September.
Doral, Florida. — Venezuelans on American soil. S. . are horrified and heartbroken by a U. S. . The Supreme Court’s ruling was delivered on Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans lose their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) instantly. In lower courts, a legal battle over the Trump administration’s order terminating TPS is currently underway. Florida-based Venezuelans, however, fear deportation to a nation engulfed in political and economic unrest.
Cecilia Gonzalez Herrera visited the U.S. S. from Venezuela with her parents eight years ago after the authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro’s government persecuted her family for their political beliefs. “My parents were both outspoken in their opposition to the Maduro government. My father worked as an attorney. My mother specialized in political science. “.
Gonzalez is one of the plaintiffs who contested a January Trump administration order that terminated TPS for roughly 350,000 Venezuelans. U. S. . District judge in San Francisco put the order on hold while he heard the case and an appeals court agreed with that decision.
People from nations devastated by natural disasters or war are protected from deportation and granted work permits under the TPS program. It was established in the 1990s to provide aid to Salvadorans escaping the civil war in El Salvador. TPS currently affects almost a million people across 17 countries. TPS has been granted to Venezuelans because of “the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane Maduro regime,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. “,”.
A group of Venezuelans whose status expired in April were immediately denied TPS by the Supreme Court in an unsigned order. There might be immediate repercussions for those individuals, according to Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan-American Caucus. She claims that as a result, the work permits associated with their TPS have expired. Unless they are receiving some other immigration benefit, their driver’s licenses have also expired as a result. “.”.
The largest Venezuelan community in the United States resides in Florida. A. has seen a sharp increase in membership in recent decades as people have fled the authoritarian governments of Hugo Chávez and Maduro.
Gonzalez is one of about 250,000 Venezuelans whose temporary protected status expires in September. Gonzalez resides in central Florida. When she got to the United States, she and her parents applied for political asylum. A. She claims that she and numerous other Venezuelans will pursue their asylum claim if she is denied TPS. “Which…means that we will be in this limbo,” she says. “We have been waiting for an interview to be called for eight years. Many other Venezuelans who have applied for political asylum have experienced this as well. “,”.
According to the Trump administration’s court filings, Venezuelans no longer require TPS because the country’s political and economic circumstances have improved. Ferro asserts that this is just untrue. She also mentions a travel warning that the U.S. issued just last week. S. It’s confirmed by the State Department. “Through his department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a travel advisory for U.S. S. . citizens traveling to Venezuela and those already there, and requesting that they depart the country right away. “,”.
“Do not travel to or remain in Venezuela due to the high risk of wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure,” the advisory warns. “.”.
With support from Venezuelan-Americans and other Hispanic voters, Trump won the November election in Florida and Miami-Dade County.
Gonzalez claims that some Venezuelan-Americans who supported Trump—some of whom now consider his decision to lift TPS to be a betrayal—have some regret for their vote. “It serves as a reminder that elections are important,” she says. She claims, “Trump was very open about his plans for immigration, including Venezuelans, during the campaign.”. “I didn’t know he meant us,” or “I didn’t (think) he was going to come for us,” may be surprised reactions from some Venezuelans who backed him. He did mean it, though. He’s doing it, too. “,”.
Despite its effect on Florida’s sizable Venezuelan community, Republican elected officials in the state have not responded strongly to the Supreme Court’s ruling or Trump’s attempt to lift TPS. Trump supporter and Miami congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, who has portrayed herself as a supporter of Venezuelans, expressed her sorrow over the court’s ruling.
It was reported by Jasmine Garsd of NPR.
