Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans still face deportation from US after Maduro capture

(CNN) — The fate of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the United States remains in limbo after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as the country grapples with an uncertain future.

President Donald Trump’s tough line on government abuses in Venezuela helped buoy him to a resounding victory in South Florida, where Venezuelans make up a large share of the population.

But the relationship between his administration and the Venezuelan community has been turbulent. Last year, a series of moves by the Trump administration stripping deportation protections for Venezuelans, many of whom fled their country amid deteriorating economic conditions and fear of political persecution, sparked a sense of betrayal.

Now, while many Venezuelans in the US celebrated the capture of Maduro and his wife by US forces in Caracas, they also remain concerned about the regime that remains in charge there — and what might await them if the Trump administration sends them back.

“There could be progress. We don’t know when. We don’t know if there will be progress. But what we know is what we’re living in the present time and it looks ridiculously bad for anyone to go to Venezuela right now,” said Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus. “The uncertainty is huge and bigger than ever — and the desperation is something that I can’t even explain.”

The Trump administration made clear its intent to continue to deport Venezuelans, including by using the Alien Enemies Act, in a Monday court filing that cited the Justice Department’s indictment against Maduro to justify the use of the wartime authority, which is ensnared in ongoing litigation.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said over the weekend that the administration’s decisions over immigration programs benefiting Venezuelans haven’t changed in the wake of Maduro’s capture.

“Venezuela today is more free than it was yesterday, and it will continue to be that way as long as President Trump is in the White House and is making sure that he’s protecting the interest of the American people, because that ripple effect will continue to bring that kind of liberty to Venezuela as well,” Noem said on Fox News Sunday.

Senior Trump officials have echoed that sentiment, arguing that Venezuela is better off now than it was a few days ago, making way for nationals of the country to return. Internally, Homeland Security officials continued routine operations, including as it concerned Venezuelans.

But additional comments Noem made in the Fox interview caused confusion over the weekend, when the secretary stated that Venezuelans who’d had their temporary protections revoked could apply for refugee status. The department later clarified Noem’s remarks on social media.

“Secretary Noem ended Temporary Protected Status for more than 500,000 Venezuelans,” the department said in a post on X, “and now they can go home to a country that they love.”

That sentiment has been reiterated by officials in multiple subsequent public statements.

“The posture has not changed: USCIS encourages all Venezuelans unlawfully in the U.S. to use the CBP Home app for help with a safe and orderly return to their country. As always, USCIS will continue to process asylum and refugee requests in accordance with existing law and official policy updates,” US Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in a statement to CNN.

The instability in Venezuela over the last several years already fueled a massive refugee crisis amounting to nearly 7.9 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants globally, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Hundreds of thousands of them arrived in the US over the span of two decades. From 2000 to 2021, the Venezuelan-origin population increased nearly 600%, the Pew Research Center found. As of mid-2024, there were an estimated 764,000 Venezuelan migrants living in the United States, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Last year, the Trump administration ended a form of humanitarian relief known as Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in the United States and ended a parole program allowing Venezuelans, as well as other select nationalities, to temporarily live and work in the country. Both decisions were legally challenged. More than 600,000 Venezuelans benefited from TPS.

Many of the Venezuelans living in the United States were facing uncertainty even before Maduro’s arrest, according to Julia Gelatt, associate director of the US immigration policy program at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Some are applying for asylum, but backlogged immigration courts and a freeze on applications at US Citizenship and Immigration Services means getting answers is a lengthy process.

“There’s a pretty big percentage of Venezuelans in the US who are without any kind of status. And because of the travel ban and the associated pause at USCIS right now, they’re not able to get another kind of status, like asylum. And even if they were granted something under President Biden, now USCIS is revisiting those immigration statuses conferred by the Biden administration,” Gelatt said.

And even if conditions improve dramatically in Venezuela, she said, that doesn’t mean the millions of Venezuelans who fled under Maduro’s regime will return.

Former Homeland Security officials said that typically, administrations would do the reverse in this situation and consider temporary protections for nationals from a country facing turmoil.

“An event with this much political instability would normally spur an increase in asylum applications and potential grants of TPS and/or parole,” said Sarah Pierce, director of social policy at Third Way and former senior USCIS official.

Emotions have been mixed among the Venezuelan community. Jubilant demonstrators sang and danced in the streets in the suburb of Doral, Florida, a city about 15 miles west of Miami, home to more Venezuelan immigrants than any other city in the US, that is affectionately known as “Doralzuela.”

“We’re scared but hopeful,” Venezuelan-American Marisela Lara, who lives in Miami, told CNN over the weekend.

Many Venezuelan migrants in the US harbor the same concerns despite the removal of Maduro, given the same oppressive apparatus remains in place in the country.

“Most of my clients were very, very happy in the immediate aftermath, but are now concerned you’re going to have the same group of individuals in power in Venezuela,” said Helena Tetzeli, immigration attorney based in Miami who represents around 100 Venezuelan clients.

“My clients run the gamut in terms of political leanings — in general, one thing they have in common is a wait-and-see attitude, if there’s really going to be a change back to democracy in Venezuela or a different cast of characters that are more deferential to the United States,” she added.

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