Trump ousted the country’s controversial leader. But Venezuelans living in the U.S. said recent immigrants don’t feel safe enough to return home.
Entry routes rapidly narrow for Venezuelans in the US
Many Venezuelan Americans initially celebrated the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, but now face an uncertain future in securing legal status in the United States.
As Venezuelans in the United States celebrated the ouster of their country’s oppressive leader, Gustavo Garagoli went live on Instagram wearing a red MAGA cap and his country’s red-blue-yellow flag around his neck. He supported President Donald Trump.
But days after the U.S. military captured President Nicolas Maduro, a sober reality is beginning to emerge.
Venezuelan immigrants across the United States watch helplessly as the Trump administration rescinds or cancels nearly every legal avenue once open to them to stay in Venezuela.
And inside Venezuela, Mr. Maduro may be gone, but the regime’s crackdown has been swift and iron-fisted.
Galagoly, president of the Venezuelan American Republican Club in Doral, Florida, said many Venezuelan immigrants are not allowed to stay but cannot safely return home.
“This situation leaves the Venezuelan community in a very vulnerable position,” he said.
Since President Trump took office, more than 500,000 Venezuelan immigrants have lost or are at risk of losing their legal status to remain in the United States.
The Trump administration revoked the temporary protected status of more than 600,000 Venezuelans and rescinded the humanitarian parole program that allowed approximately 120,000 Venezuelans to legally enter the country with sponsorship for two years.
At the same time, the regime is blocking asylum applications by asking judges to dismiss or preemptively cancel cases. The administration has argued that Biden’s protections are illegal or unnecessary and that the asylum system, designed to protect certain persecuted groups, is rife with false claims.
“It’s devastating and tragic that there are people in the United States who have risked everything and still have a system that is completely dysfunctional,” said Lisa Cope, director of legal services at the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center, which represents asylum seekers.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told Fox News on January 4 that Maduro’s detention means Venezuelans can “go home.”
“The great news for those who come here from Venezuela on Temporary Protected Status is that they can return home with hope of peace, prosperity and stability for their country, the country they love,” she said.
Garagoli has repeatedly thanked Trump for taking decisive action against Maduro, but told USA TODAY he feels a new sense of optimism about Venezuela’s future. But he also believes there is a long and difficult road ahead.
“Venezuela is not safe for anyone,” he said. “Not for those who left, not for those who are still there.”
Maduro is gone, but the government remains.
Niulka Melendez, 53, a Venezuelan American, obtained asylum in the United States with her husband and son two years ago. couple, After fleeing their home country in 2015, they founded a nonprofit organization in New York City to help others gain a foothold in the United States.
She has been a vocal critic of the Maduro government. His arrest on January 3 opened a window of hope for her, but it quickly clouded as she saw armed militias known as “colectivos” take to the streets of Caracas, the capital and her hometown.
“It’s a dream,” she said of being able to one day safely return to Venezuela and even visit. “But that’s not reality yet.”
Melendez said her own asylum process took nearly nine years. Tens of thousands of our countrymen are awaiting judgment in their asylum cases. But their prospects for success appear to be fading.
As of 2024, Venezuelans have more than 132,000 asylum claims pending in U.S. immigration courts, according to data compiled by Syracuse University’s TRAC. (There is some overlap in the numbers because people with Temporary Protected Status may also be applying for asylum.)
At the direction of the White House, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyers are asking immigration judges to dismiss asylum cases before hearing the merits of the claims.
Maduro’s ouster shocks Venezuelan immigrants living in the US
Venezuelan immigrants in South Florida face concerns about legal status in U.S. after Maduro’s arrest
ICE will request that the case be dismissed and then move the immigrant into expedited deportation proceedings. Separately, ICE has begun asking judges to preemptively cancel procedures known as “preter missions,” arguing that the migrants do not have the right to seek protection in the United States because other countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and Uganda have agreed to accept asylum seekers.
President Maduro may now be held in a Brooklyn jail on U.S. drug trafficking charges, but Meléndez said the Venezuelan government that risked the lives and livelihoods of defectors is still largely intact.
“We have a lot of work to do if we are to really shout out loud, ‘Free! We are free,'” Melendez said.
Venezuelans react to US attack and capture of President Maduro
Venezuelans around the world are praising and condemning the actions of the United States following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuelans have become the “face” of mass immigration
The 770,000 Venezuelan immigrants living in the United States will make up just 2% of the country’s foreign-born population in 2023, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
However, Venezuelans are also one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the country, with a population of Soared more than 300% From 2010 to 2023.
Their dramatic arrival under the Biden administration, an exodus of families trudging in droves through the Darien Gap jungle and making the perilous overland journey to the U.S.-Mexico border, has captivated some Americans and outraged others.
Venezuelan immigrants were a prominent feature of the 2024 presidential election, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott was busing them from the country to Democratic cities that were ill-equipped to help them. Unlike other immigrant groups that came before, this influx of Venezuelans had no friends or family in the United States to take them in.
“Venezuelans have become the face of a shift in migration that began in late 2021, with migrants arriving at the border with no one to know and nowhere to go,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the nonpartisan U.S. Immigration Council.
Once President Trump took office, Venezuelans also became the face of his mass deportation campaign.
They were among the first to be sent to the offshore prison at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo, Cuba. A Venezuelan man with an extensive history as a gang member and criminal was also one of the first sent to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
But apart from these headline-grabbing moves, the Trump administration is struggling to ramp up deportations of Venezuelans.
The regime successfully pressured Venezuela to accept regular deportation flights before Maduro’s ouster. But the number of Venezuelans deported last year was relatively small: 14,310 from February to December, according to Human Rights First, which monitors ICE flights.
The numbers highlight a widening chasm in U.S. policy.
Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. during the Biden administration are not allowed to stay. The administration cannot effectively send them all back. However, for many, returning to their homeland is not a viable option.
Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country in recent years, with around 7 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Once the richest country in South America, economic collapse and runaway inflation have pushed the majority of people into poverty, according to the Wilson Center. Maduro’s government was known for orchestrating a harsh crackdown on dissent. This is still the norm. A UN fact-finding mission conducted after Maduro’s arrest found evidence of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances.
The night Maduro was ousted was at least the second time in recent years that Venezuelan-American Patricia Andrade was woken up in Miami at ungodly hours because of Venezuelan politics. The first was on the night of Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, which outside observers widely believe was stolen by Mr. Maduro.
When the news of Maduro’s arrest broke on January 3, “everyone was celebrating at first: family, friends, neighbors, even the priest,” she said. “I’m glad Maduro was removed because he needed to be removed. But to be honest, I’m not celebrating anymore. What’s left is worse.”
We hope that President Trump will be able to return home safely or stay safely.
Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez and other leaders, including the interior minister and military commander, have sent mixed signals in the days since Maduro’s ouster.
After calling for “colectivos” in the streets, the regime detained more than a dozen journalists, including foreign correspondents, at Rodríguez’s swearing-in, most of whom were released a day later. Venezuelan authorities began releasing some political prisoners from two notorious prisons on January 8th. But the next day, the National Association of Journalists condemned the ongoing persecution of the press and called for the release of the 22 communications professionals still in detention.
Meanwhile, Mr. Garagoli was preparing for the Venezuelan American Republican Club’s annual gala later this month at Mr. Trump’s golf course and resort in Doral, a hub for Venezuelan immigrants and asylum seekers. Local elected officials will also be invited, as will members of Trump’s cabinet. A grand celebration is planned to mark Maduro’s ouster.
However, there is an undercurrent of anxiety.
“I have friends and family here who don’t have (status), and obviously they’re scared,” said Galagoly, a naturalized citizen. “They have no choice but to sit back and wait. Something has to happen that will give the people some peace. A new law, something that will give peace to the Venezuelan community.”
‘He cut off a snake’s head’ in Venezuela, “But the snake is still moving,” he said.
Lauren Villagran covers immigration for USA TODAY. Contact him at lvillagran@usatoday.com.
