When Ana Gil heard the news that the Supreme Court Monday allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections for thousands of recent Venezuelan migrants, she cried.
The new decision from the Supreme Court only impacts 2023 designation of TPS for Venezuelans.
Any Venezuelan who was granted status under the 2021 designation is not affected and continues to have status until Sept. 10.
Chicago has helped thousands of Venezuelan migrants to settle in the city after a tumultuous start when Texas Gov.
“Venezuelan migrants have become an integral part of our communities.
Ana Gil sobbed upon learning that the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Trump administration’s decision to deny legal protections to thousands of recent migrants from Venezuela. According to the move, 350,000 Venezuelans in the US may be deported, including some of the 50,000 or so who are thought to have arrived in Chicago in recent years.
“I’m not sure how or where,” Gil said. She is a co-founder of the Chicago-based Venezuelan Alliance. In the past ten years, Gil has collaborated with other immigration advocates to offer legal counsel and resources to migrants who have come to this country from Venezuela.
She claimed that the majority had escaped severe poverty and political unrest. A work permit and protection from deportation are two benefits of Temporary Protected Status, a humanitarian protection given to citizens of nations experiencing extreme circumstances like war or natural disasters. This allows families and individuals to start over.
The news has transformed hope into heartbreak for the Venezuelan community in Chicago.
In December 2022, Maria Belen traveled from Venezuela to Chicago on humanitarian parole. She applied for TPS shortly after, which was necessary for her and her family to settle in the city. It was the only thing that kept her from being deported.
On Monday, Belen declared, “I have nothing now.”.
Belen claimed that she has made Chicago her home with her family. Thanks to her Venezuelan education degree, she works as an assistant teacher at a CPS school. Her daughter is completing her general education before attending Wilbur Wright College to pursue a career in engineering, and her husband works for an IT company.
However, at this time, we truly don’t know anything. Belen remarked, “We have no idea what will happen, where we’re going, or how.”. We came here with the specific intention of working and contributing positively to society. Even though we paid our taxes and followed all legal requirements, we are still being expelled. “.”.
Gil claimed that uncertainty and fear are at the core of the mayhem. While some migrants are waiting for advocates to act on their behalf and figure out a way to defend their status, others have asked for information on how to migrate to another country.
“I’m very depressed. Gil remarked, “I still find it hard to believe we’ve come this far.”. We will continue to fight against this, though. We have previously done it.
A federal judge in San Francisco had upheld the Venezuelans’ Temporary Protected Status, which would have otherwise ended last month, but the court’s order, which only had one noted dissent, puts it on hold, according to the Associated Press. The justices didn’t offer any justification, which is typical in emergency appeals.
Since 2013, over 7.3 million people have fled Venezuela due to the country’s complicated political and economic issues. Inflation in April was 172% year over year due to Venezuela’s latest economic issues. Last month, President Nicolás Maduro even declared an “economic emergency” as a result of the most recent development. In addition to cracking down on political opponents, Maduro’s reelection to a third term last year has been widely denounced as illegitimate.
The administration has taken strong action in the TPS dispute to remove several protections that have permitted immigrants to stay in the nation, including 50,000 Haitians and 600,000 Venezuelans who had their temporary status terminated. The status is awarded in increments of 18 months. Haiti and Venezuela were first assigned to TPS in 2010 and 2021, respectively.
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling only affects Venezuelans’ 2023 TPS designation. This particular ruling has no bearing on Haiti’s determination, which is still being reviewed. Those Venezuelans who were granted status under the 2021 designation remain unaffected and will remain so until September. 10. 10.
According to SCOUTUSblog, the justices left open the possibility that individual Venezuelans could file their own challenges against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s attempts to take them out of the country or to cancel their work permits.
The government’s request was denied by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who stated that she would have left the lower court’s decision in effect while the case is still pending.
That’s what Gil finds encouraging. Although she acknowledged that it is too soon to have a plan for the future, she did mention that the Venezuelan Alliance in Chicago is collaborating closely with the National TPS Alliance and other regional groups.
Gil stated, “As a group, we can do more, but as individuals, it is very costly to find a way to stay in the country legally.”.
The litigation will continue in the court of appeals following the Supreme Court’s ruling, according to Helena Olea, deputy director of Alianza Americas. The Chicago-based group strives to give immigrants and those seeking asylum resources.
But if the stay on the termination of TPS for Venezuela is lifted, the final decision, which might support the plaintiffs, will come too late. Many Venezuelans might be deported, choose to leave the country, or be arbitrarily sent to El Salvador after being falsely accused of being enemy combatants or Tren de Aragua members in the absence of TPS. “All of these are terrible options that immediately expose worthy people to human rights abuses,” Olea stated.
Residents are being urged to show solidarity by local leaders as legal advocates advocate for federal intervention.
The executive director of the Mano a Mano Family Resource Center and board president of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Dulce Ortiz, said, “Today the Supreme Court allowed Trump and the Department of Homeland Security to once again sow panic and confusion among our communities.”.
Many ICIRR member organizations throughout the state have been working to welcome newcomers over the past three years, many of whom are from Venezuela and are looking for safety and opportunity in a new place to call home. Some came on their own, while others were part of a political ploy to use immigrants as a weapon against communities that welcomed them. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of how they got to Illinois, Ortiz stated.
The Venezuelan Alliance and the Resurrection Project, which have hosted legal clinics to offer free legal advice to migrants, estimate that about 9,000 Venezuelan migrants in the Chicago area have TPS.
Following a turbulent beginning when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent busloads of migrants to Chicago over the past couple of years.
Many Venezuelans have filled key roles in industries facing labor shortages — including health care, construction and caregiving. With TPS ending, employers and communities alike worry about the impact.
“Venezuelan immigrants are now a vital component of our societies. They are our coworkers, neighbors, and caregivers, and they deserve credit for what they have contributed to society, Olea said. “We must not overlook the fact that Venezuela is unsafe for return due to persistent political repression, economic collapse, widespread human rights violations, and a humanitarian crisis characterized by shortages of food and medicine,” Olea stated. “This calls for continued TPS protection.”
The Resurrection Project and other immigrant legal clinics say they are being flooded with calls from panicked families.
“Today’s decision will harm hundreds of thousands of immigrants, their families and their communities,” said Erendira Rendón, vice president of immigrant justice at The Resurrection Project. “TRP remains committed to working toward a future where all people in the U. S. are afforded an opportunity to achieve the American Dream. ”.
TRP will continue to provide legal guidance to those who have TPS by appointment through their legal clinic.
State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, head of the state’s House Immigration Committee and a Democrat who represents portions of Aurora, North Aurora and Batavia, told the Tribune Monday the decision is “terrible” and “disappointing. ”.
Many of these Venezuelan families, she said, were approved to stay in the country because going back to Venezuela meant returning to a dangerous situation. That federal approval allowed them to work and start a life for the past several years.
“I think it leaves families uncertain about their future in this country,” said Hernandez. “These are people who were being retaliated against in their home country, so they can’t go back to their home country. So now we are leaving families to go through the trauma again, potentially going back. ”.
The decision, she said, also makes it more difficult for the state to fight federal immigration policies, but in the meantime, “we need to just protect the people we have right now. ”.
Despite the uncertainty Belen said she remains hopeful.
“Everything happens very fast. We thought we would lose TPS in April. We didn’t. Now we’re back to this, but we don’t know what can happen next,” Belen said.
Though the uncertainty sometimes feels debilitating, she said that she and her family are committed to staying together.
If she must leave the United States, she will be devastated. Returning to Venezuela is not an option because “there’s nothing there for us. ”.
“Maybe a different country,” she said.
The Associated Press and Chicago Tribune’s Addison Wright contributed.
