These Venezuelans are in the U.S. legally, but a Supreme Court order is upending their lives
A 10-year-old Venezuelan girl living in New York City with a special legal protection against deportation has repeatedly asked her mother the same question all week: "Mommy, what am I going to do if immigration comes?" The girl, her two siblings and her parents are among the 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants who have been living and working in the U.S. with temporary protected status, better known as TPS, for the past two years. But aone-page Supreme Court orderissued last week, which provided more questions than answers, jeopardized the legal immigration status of Venezuelans with TPS — eliciting uncertainty, anguish and a sense of betrayal for families at risk of losing their protections. "That makes you feel very depressed, anxious and distressed," the mother of the little girl told NBC News in her native Spanish. "This is all terrible." With no clear timeline, the Supreme Court gave President Donald Trump and his administration the green light to continue their efforts to end the protections granted to these Venezuelans in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden. NBC News spoke with the mother in New York City and two other Venezuelan TPS holders, one in North Carolina and one in Los Angeles, about navigating changing immigration policies at a time when the Trump administration is rolling back temporary protections and other legal immigration programs forrefugeesandasylum-seekers— consequently expanding the pool of possible deportees as the president seeks to deliver on his campaign promise of mass deportations. All three TPS holders requested their names not be published for safety reasons, as they expressed worries about their protections against deportation under TPS. TPS is considered a humanitarian designation under U.S. law for nationals of certain countries experiencing war, natural disasters or other serious crises that would make it unsafe for them to return. Beneficiaries are allowed to remain in the U.S. legally and get work authorization for up to 18 months — subject to extensions. That is the case for a young political scientist who fled government persecution in her native Venezuela to settle in North Carolina. She has TPS and was overcome with frustration after she saw the Supreme Court's order Monday, she said. "Being in that limbo feels like a right that you already acquired has been taken away from you," she said, adding that TPS holders like her did everything right to meet requirements and paid hundreds of dollars in work permits and application fees. Affected TPS holders are part of one of the world's largest migration crises. Over 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled their homeland over the past decade — escaping rampantviolence, inflation, organized crime and political repressionfrom a regime accused of repeatedlyviolating human rights,as well asshortages of food and medicine and a lack of essential servicessuch as electricity and health care. After being persecuted for the nature of her work, the political scientist arrived to the U.S. in 2022 on a visa. Applying for and receiving TPS under the 2023 designation gave her much-needed "peace of mind," she said. That meant, "I'm in a safe place and I'm legally here." "That changes everything in your daily life," she said, adding the protections helped her shed the fears of persecution andhuman rights violations she faced in Venezuelaand start a new chapter, personally and professionally. Biden had extended TPS until October 2026 before leaving office. But the Department of Homeland Security rescinded that extension shortly after Trump took office,moving to end the programfor Venezuelans under the 2023 TPS designation.Litigation is underwayto determine whether the program stays until next year or ends earlier. But what happens in the meantime? This is the nerve-racking question that has been circling in the mind of the Venezuelan mother in New York City all week. All five members of her family obtained TPS under the 2023 designation for Venezuelan nationals. The mother said her husband, who has been recovering from an accident that injured his back, did not go to his follow-up appointments this week. Her three daughters attended their last week of school with renewed fears that they or their parents could be detained and deported. Since having TPS, the mother landed a "decent job caring for elders" that allowed her to provide for her family and open a bank account to move toward a financially stable future, she said, adding that her family consistently complies with immigration appointments and requirements. Because of this, she sees the Trump administration's insistence on ending TPS for Venezuelans like her as unfair, she said. The family not only fears the prospect of losing deportation protections and employment authorization if TPS ends, but also worries about "being denigrated and facing xenophobia again" in their everyday life following the Supreme Court order, the mother said. From walking through the jungle to enduring cold temperatures and hunger on their trek to the U.S., she said she found herself reflecting back on everything her family has done "to reach a country where one is still searching for a better future." That's why Niurka Meléndez, a Venezuelan asylum-seeker and the director and founder of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid in New York City, has been leading volunteer and grassroots efforts to ensure her community is not "paralyzed by fear," helping people seek trustworthy information and available legal resources. From making deliveries to working in a labor organization, another Venezuelan mother with TPS in Los Angeles works multiple jobs to support herself and her family in Venezuela. She said the crisis in her homeland is so bad that her 30-year-old daughter, a dentist in Venezuela, can't make ends meet. She sends money to help her and her aging parents survive and get basic goods they may not have due to shortages. For her, returning to Venezuela would not just mean going back to a homeland riddled with ailments. It would also mean that her family in Venezuela would lose a source of financial support they depend on, said the TPS-holding woman in Los Angeles. She,like many other Venezuelans, had believed Trump had what it took to stand against the regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and pave the way for the possible return of those who have fled. "But I was wrong," she said in Spanish. DHS said ina February memoannouncing its intention to end TPS for Venezuelans under the 2023 designation that Venezuela has seen "notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime." The mother in Los Angeles said she knows that's not true based on her conversations with relatives in Venezuela. "Now, I feel betrayed," she added. In New York, immigration attorney Edward Cuccia was flooded with calls from hundreds of his TPS clients last week as they try to determine what to do next. "You're talking about a vast number of people who ran away from a terrible situation down in Venezuela, which has not gotten any better," Cuccia said. "Their status is all in limbo." The Trump administration may attempt to strip protections from these Venezuelans to have them ready for expedited removal, Cuccia said. But if due process is followed, it may give people more time to figure out other pathways to remain in the U.S. legally. He advises Venezuelans at risk of losing TPS to document everything they're doing while in the U.S., keep proof of the troubles they and their relatives have faced in Venezuela, explore other immigration pathways and make sure their applications are correctly submitted.
These Venezuelans are in the U.S. legally, but a Supreme Court order is upending their lives A 10-year-old Venezuelan girl living in New Yor...
