‘Powerless and angry’: Venezuelans react to roll-back of deportation protections

MIAMI — The Trump administration’s decision to rescind a Biden-era extension of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans has ignited fear in Florida, the heart of the Venezuelan community in the United States.

“I feel powerless and angry that I can’t help my family. This is a country of immigrants. Why are they attacking us? My family has committed no crime,” said B. Diaz, a Venezuelan who asked that her full name not be used out of concern for her family’s safety. “They’re tearing us apart.”

Diaz’s family members, who arrived in South Florida with an immigration parole and received TPS status in 2023, are among the more than half a million Venezuelans in the U.S. who are approved beneficiaries of the program. The federal program confers temporary deportation protections and work permits for people already in the U.S. who hail from certain countries in turmoil. Before the end of President Biden’s administration, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had announced that Venezuelans would have a new TPS extension, to October 2026.

But this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would roll back the extension. In the coming months, she will have to decide whether to extend or terminate the two Temporary Protected Status designations for Venezuela.