Latest news with #VenezuelanAmericanCaucus
Axios
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Miami leaders condemn Trump travel ban
Haitian and Venezuelan community leaders in Miami called President Trump's travel ban xenophobic as South Florida's immigrant communities face further restrictions. The big picture: Trump's order fully bans Haitian citizens from traveling to the U.S. and partially bans entry for Venezuelans and Cubans, among a total of 19 nations impacted. Greater Miami is home to the largest Venezuelan, Haitian and Cuban diasporas in the U.S. The Trump administration has already revoked the legal status of many immigrants from these countries through restrictions on humanitarian parole and Temporary Protected Status. Zoom in: The order suspends the issuance of most immigrant and non-immigrant visas for Cubans and Venezuelans, while fully banning entry from Haitians, the Miami Herald reports. Trump writes in the order that Venezuela "lacks a competent or cooperative central authority for issuing passports or civil documents and it does not have appropriate screening and vetting measures." For Haiti, he noted a 31% visitor visa overstay rate and said mass migration from Haiti creates "acute risks of increased overstay rates, establishment of criminal networks, and other national security threats." There are exemptions for current visa holders, green card holders, dual citizens, persons seeking visas through U.S. citizen family members and refugees granted asylum, per the New York Times. The order takes effect Monday. What they're saying: Miami-Dade County Commissioner Marleine Bastien, who was born in Haiti, issued a statement warning that Trump's "unjust policy will sow chaos in our communities, separating families and disrupting lives." "This is not only a cruel and xenophobic policy proposal – it is a blatant attempt to scapegoat an already suffering people." Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, told the Herald that the ban targeted nations "ravaged by war, dictatorships, famine, and death."
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Those from the countries on Trump's travel ban say they're confused and angry about what comes next
Anger and condemnation broke out as families, attorneys and immigrant advocates absorbed the blast from the latest bombshell delivered by the Trump immigration — a travel ban that stops or restricts people from 19 mostly African, Asian and Caribbean countries from entering the U.S. While the Trump administration said the travel ban is meant to keep Americans safe, critics lobbed accusations of discrimination, cruelty, racism, inhumanity and more in response. Meanwhile, the news also elicited confusion over what will happen once the ban goes into effect on Monday. "This travel ban is a racist, bigoted and xenophobic and deeply un-American attack on human rights — it's like persecution. We have fled dictatorship, violence, hunger,' Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, told NBC News from Miami, a city with a large population of immigrants from several of the countries on Trump's list. 'This administration clearly has something against immigrants, and it has something against us in particular,' said José Antonio Colina, a former Venezuelan army lieutenant who fled to Miami in 2003 and heads the exile organization Veppex. 'We are double-persecuted. We are persecuted by the tyranny of Nicolás Maduro and we are persecuted by the administration of Donald Trump.' A 38-year-old Haitian green-card holder in Miami who was too fearful to allow her name to be used said she and many others in the community feel 'confused and scared' over the travel ban on Haiti. She said most of her family lives there, including her sister and father, who is sick. 'They come all the time to visit and now I don't know if they will be able to,' she said, adding she heard there were exceptions to the ban but wasn't sure. There are some exceptions, including for people with lawful permanent residency, spouses and children of U.S. citizens, those who are adopted and others. 'But if you are a spouse of a permanent resident, forget about it,' said Doug Rand, former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration. It will also impact other relatives, such as adult children and siblings of lawful permanent residents, people who won the diversity lottery or were sponsored by a U.S. employer and are from the listed countries, 'people who have been waiting for years and done it the right way,' he said. In Havana, a queue of people outside the American Embassy learned the news of the travel ban and suspensions as they waited for their visa interviews. 'I had been waiting nine years for this moment,' said one young woman in line, who declined to be identified by name for fear it might affect her visa chances. She and others said the suspension means not being able to visit family or escape dire circumstances in Cuba. 'If they don't grant visas, Cubans will starve, given the situation, they will starve,' said Ismael Gainza, a retired Cuban. 'I see that measure as bad, I see it as bad because the situation is tough and we have to survive.' Trump's proclamation issued Wednesday night bans people from 12 countries from traveling to the U.S. The countries are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In seven more countries, travel to the U.S. was suspended but not banned. They are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Shahzeen Karim, managing attorney at Hafey & Karim law firm, said that although she's in the immigration law space, she holds 'Republican views' on the topic, agreeing there's a need for a stricter immigration policy and more thorough screening. 'I know the White House presented some explanations as to why each of those countries, but I can't help but feel very targeted, being a Muslim immigration attorney,' Karim said. 'The countries are majority Muslim unfortunately.' Immigration advocates said that, unlike Trump's previous travel ban, which caught them off guard, they expected the president would enact a similar policy in his second term. Trump's 2017 ban immediately barred Muslims from entering the country, leaving some stranded at airports or unable to board flights. But like his previous ban, the impact of the current ban taking effect next week will be felt by people trying to bring together families, those who landed a job in the U.S., who had tours or visits planned, who planned to study here or were looking forward to a cultural exchange. It took three tries for Trump, in his previous administration, to come up with a travel ban that the U.S. Supreme Court would accept. Lower courts nixed the first version and the administration kept revising it until the high court accepted its third version in June 2018. Immigration and civil rights groups opposed all three versions. Raha Wala, vice president of strategy and partnerships at the National Immigration Law Center, said that challenging the latest ban 'will be an uphill battle' because the Supreme Court decision is the law of the land. Edward Cuccia, an immigration attorney in New York City, said that blocking the latest ban could be tougher now than in 2017. 'Trump got smarter this time,' he said, explaining that the mix of countries makes it harder to argue that the ban is discriminatory. Also, the implementation won't be as abrupt and the argument that the singled-out nations do not vet the documents of their citizens well may hold up in court, according to Cuccia. Even so, the implications are vast for the people who are affected and are not a security threat, he said. 'What is this going to mean for family unification? There's a lot of countries here!' Cuccia said. 'And then, there are people that maybe had business dealings, people who wanted to do investments here in the United States or come over on temporary work visas, student visas or even just to visit … That seems to be gone out the window.' Wala called the justification for the ban — that visa overstays present a national security threat and the inability to fully vet visa travelers in those countries — a 'fig leaf.' If there is a gap in vetting, 'that's worth taking a look at,' he said, but added that 'all kinds of people overstay their visas — and just because someone overstayed their visa and committed a crime, we just have to get away from this guilt by association concept.' For Wala, the newly announced ban cannot be separated from the president's previous policies and statements. "This ban started as the president saying he was going to have a complete and total shutdown of Muslims in the country. And he also said he wants to ban folks — and pardon my French here — from s---hole countries," Wala said. In Miami, Colina said he was glad the ban would prevent officials of Maduro's regime in Venezuela and their families "who always find a way" to get a visa to enter the country, "but they are a minority, and the partial ban will negatively impact the larger community and it's not fair.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
05-06-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Those from the countries on Trump's travel ban say they're confused and angry about what comes next
Anger and condemnation broke out as families, attorneys and immigrant advocates absorbed the blast from the latest bombshell delivered by the Trump immigration — a travel ban that stops or restricts people from 19 mostly African, Asian and Caribbean countries from entering the U.S. While the Trump administration said the travel ban is meant to keep Americans safe, critics lobbed accusations of discrimination, cruelty, racism, inhumanity and more in response. Meanwhile, the news also elicited confusion over what will happen once the ban goes into effect on Monday. "This travel ban is a racist, bigoted and xenophobic and deeply un-American attack on human rights — it's like persecution. We have fled dictatorship, violence, hunger,' Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, told NBC News from Miami, a city with a large population of immigrants from several of the countries on Trump's list. 'This administration clearly has something against immigrants, and it has something against us in particular,' said José Antonio Colina, a former Venezuelan army lieutenant who fled to Miami in 2003 and heads the exile organization Veppex. 'We are double-persecuted. We are persecuted by the tyranny of Nicolás Maduro and we are persecuted by the administration of Donald Trump.' A 38-year-old Haitian green-card holder in Miami who was too fearful to allow her name to be used said she and many others in the community feel 'confused and scared' over the travel ban on Haiti. She said most of her family lives there, including her sister and father, who is sick. 'They come all the time to visit and now I don't know if they will be able to,' she said, adding she heard there were exceptions to the ban but wasn't sure. There are some exceptions, including for people with lawful permanent residency, spouses and children of U.S. citizens, those who are adopted and others. 'But if you are a spouse of a permanent resident, forget about it,' said Doug Rand, former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during the Biden administration. It will also impact other relatives, such as adult children and siblings of lawful permanent residents, people who won the diversity lottery or were sponsored by a U.S. employer and are from the listed countries, 'people who have been waiting for years and done it the right way,' he said. In Havana, a queue of people outside the American Embassy learned the news of the travel ban and suspensions as they waited for their visa interviews. 'I had been waiting nine years for this moment,' said one young woman in line, who declined to be identified by name for fear it might affect her visa chances. She and others said the suspension means not being able to visit family or escape dire circumstances in Cuba. 'If they don't grant visas, Cubans will starve, given the situation, they will starve,' said Ismael Gainza, a retired Cuban. 'I see that measure as bad, I see it as bad because the situation is tough and we have to survive.' Trump's proclamation issued Wednesday night bans people from 12 countries from traveling to the U.S. The countries are: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In seven more countries, travel to the U.S. was suspended but not banned. They are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Shahzeen Karim, managing attorney at Hafey & Karim law firm, said that although she's in the immigration law space, she holds 'Republican views' on the topic, agreeing there's a need for a stricter immigration policy and more thorough screening. 'I know the White House presented some explanations as to why each of those countries, but I can't help but feel very targeted, being a Muslim immigration attorney,' Karim said. 'The countries are majority Muslim unfortunately.' Challenging the ban could be 'an uphill battle' Immigration advocates said that, unlike Trump's previous travel ban, which caught them off guard, they expected the president would enact a similar policy in his second term. Trump's 2017 ban immediately barred Muslims from entering the country, leaving some stranded at airports or unable to board flights. But like his previous ban, the impact of the current ban taking effect next week will be felt by people trying to bring together families, those who landed a job in the U.S., who had tours or visits planned, who planned to study here or were looking forward to a cultural exchange. It took three tries for Trump, in his previous administration, to come up with a travel ban that the U.S. Supreme Court would accept. Lower courts nixed the first version and the administration kept revising it until the high court accepted its third version in June 2018. Immigration and civil rights groups opposed all three versions. Raha Wala, vice president of strategy and partnerships at the National Immigration Law Center, said that challenging the latest ban 'will be an uphill battle' because the Supreme Court decision is the law of the land. Edward Cuccia, an immigration attorney in New York City, said that blocking the latest ban could be tougher now than in 2017. 'Trump got smarter this time,' he said, explaining that the mix of countries makes it harder to argue that the ban is discriminatory. Also, the implementation won't be as abrupt and the argument that the singled-out nations do not vet the documents of their citizens well may hold up in court, according to Cuccia. Even so, the implications are vast for the people who are affected and are not a security threat, he said. 'What is this going to mean for family unification? There's a lot of countries here!' Cuccia said. 'And then, there are people that maybe had business dealings, people who wanted to do investments here in the United States or come over on temporary work visas, student visas or even just to visit … That seems to be gone out the window.' Wala called the justification for the ban — that visa overstays present a national security threat and the inability to fully vet visa travelers in those countries — a 'fig leaf.' If there is a gap in vetting, 'that's worth taking a look at,' he said, but added that 'all kinds of people overstay their visas — and just because someone overstayed their visa and committed a crime, we just have to get away from this guilt by association concept.' For Wala, the newly announced ban cannot be separated from the president's previous policies and statements. "This ban started as the president saying he was going to have a complete and total shutdown of Muslims in the country. And he also said he wants to ban folks — and pardon my French here — from s---hole countries," Wala said. In Miami, Colina said he was glad the ban would prevent officials of Maduro's regime in Venezuela and their families "who always find a way" to get a visa to enter the country, "but they are a minority, and the partial ban will negatively impact the larger community and it's not fair.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘One-way ticket to a dungeon': Venezuelans anxious as Supreme Court weighs TPS decision
Dozens of Venezuelans gathered at El Arepazo, an iconic restaurant in the heart of Doral's Venezuelan community, for a vigil Thursday night in support of deportation protections now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The event was organized for the Venezuelan American Caucus to show support for the Venezuelan community on the final day of arguments before the high court in a case that could determine whether Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans is upheld or revoked. 'Going back would be a one-way ticket to a dungeon or to death,' said Liduzka Aguilera. 'We cannot return. It's simply not safe.' Aguilera, 54, is a TPS holder living in Doral with her family of four. A former criminal attorney in Venezuela, she fled political persecution and arrived in the United States in 2018, where she applied for asylum. In 2021, she and her family were granted TPS. Now, they await a pivotal decision that could determine whether they remain safe or face the threat of being sent back to a country they fear. For her, returning to Venezuela is not just unimaginable — it's a matter of life or death. More than 600,000 Venezuelans hold TPS, making up 66% of the Venezuelan community in the United States of more than 900,000. Over the past two decades, the U.S. has experienced a dramatic surge in its Venezuelan population, driven by a mass exodus from a country devastated by a humanitarian and political crisis. Venezuelans are significantly less likely to be naturalized citizens than immigrants overall: in 2023, only 15% of Venezuelan immigrants had U.S. citizenship, and just 18% of Venezuelans in the United States were born in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census. A lawsuit brought by seven Venezuelans at risk of deportation and the advocacy group National TPS Alliance challenges the Trump administration's attempt to end TPS protections. Filed in federal court in San Francisco in February, the suit claims that the Trump administration's decision to end TPS — which had been extended by the Biden administration — was unlawful, politically driven, and rooted in racial discrimination, part of a larger pattern of targeting non-European, non-white immigrants. The legal fight escalated on May 1, when the administration formally asked the Supreme Court to overturn a March ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco that temporarily blocked the end of TPS for Venezuelans. That decision had come just days before protections were set to expire, potentially stripping hundreds of thousands of their legal status and right to work. READ MORE: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow revocation of TPS for Venezuelans Adelys Ferro, executive director of Venezuelan American Caucus, said during Thursday night's vigil that situations like Aguilera's are common in the Venezuelan community. She said that among the Venezuelan TPS holders are many who were politically persecuted, requested asylum after coming to the U.S. years ago, and have their cases are pending. 'With the TPS they finally have a legal status. How would these people return to Venezuela?' she asked. Ferro warned that Venezuelans with pending asylum cases risk being sent back to face imprisonment or even death at the hands of the Nicolás Maduro regime. She stressed the devastating impact mass deportations would have, not just on individuals, but on entire communities. 'They just rescued five Venezuelans from an embassy in Caracas,' Ferro said, echoing the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio referring to the extraction over the weekend of five opposition leaders who had holed up in the Argentinian embassy in Venezuela. 'Five hostages of the criminal, usurping dictatorship of Maduro,' Ferro added. 'And now, they want to send 600,000 Venezuelans back to that same regime — among them, tens of thousands who are politically persecuted. 'If thousands of Venezuelans are forced to leave the country, cities like Doral would be economically devastated,' she said. 'This city was built by immigrants, especially Venezuelan immigrants. Without them, Doral wouldn't even exist. The cost of losing them is immense, not just in human terms, which is the most important, but economically, for the cities where they live and contribute every day.' READ MORE: Judge stops Trump administration from ending TPS for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans In their arguments to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, emphasized that the lower court had jurisdiction to consider the claims. They pointed to 'unrebutted evidence' showing that the administration's decision was motivated by a. discriminatory mindset. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, they argued, justified the termination using false and inflammatory stereotypes, such as the debunked claim that Venezuela had 'emptied its prisons' to send criminals to the U.S. She publicly associated Venezuelan TPS recipients with 'gang members,' 'dirt bags,' and 'dangerous criminals,' despite data showing they have lower crime rates and higher labor force participation than the general U.S. population. Marisol Silva, 64, arrived in the U.S. in 2021 with her husband. Both are retired and could no longer afford to live in Venezuela, where the collapsing economy made even basic necessities unaffordable. They came to reunite with their daughter, a journalist who fled the country eight years earlier after being persecuted for speaking out against the regime. Silva and her husband became TPS holders in 2023, a protection the Trump administration decided would end in April . However, a ruling by U.S. Circuit Judge Edward Chen extended the deadline, allowing them to remain in the country. Their work permits were granted under their pending asylum case, but the uncertainty surrounding their deportation status, she said, remains excruciating. In Venezuela, she added, they were affiliated with one of the country's largest opposition parties, making the prospect of a forced return especially dangerous. They are among nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who received TPS in 2023 and were at risk of losing the protection last month. Another 257,000 Venezuelans who were granted TPS in 2021 are facing a similar threat, with their protections scheduled to expire in September. Thursday's vigils were held in at least 15 cities nationwide — from Spokane, Washington, to San Juan and New York and Chicago — but the largest demonstrations took place in Florida, home to the country's largest Venezuelan population. In Doral, Orlando, and Jacksonville, communities came together in emotional displays of solidarity, urging the courts to preserve the protections that have allowed them to build lives in the U.S. Venezuelan Americans gathered to show support for their community regardless of immigration status. Many have family members still fighting for protection, including loved ones without legal status. Carol Quintero, 70, is one of them. Her husband, 71, who lost his legal status decades ago, was finally able to regain a measure of security through TPS. But that relief is fragile. 'I feel anxious all the time,' she said. 'I've had panic attacks just thinking about what would happen if he lost his protection. He could be deported at any moment.' Quintero said. Cecilia Herrera, the only plaintiff in the San Francisco case from Florida and a resident of Kissimmee, told the Herald from Orlando that the gathering there was an expression of the community's resilience and a call for justice.'I know it's crucial for us to come together and show both the government and the Supreme Court that our lives are at stake,' she said. 'We are not here just as TPS holders — we are mothers, fathers, workers, and active members of our communities who contribute to this country's progress' Herrera said. 'We are here today to send a clear message: We will not give up our fight for the right to live with dignity and without fear.' The stakes at the Supreme Court extend beyond the Venezuelan community. If the court rules in favor of the administration, it could set a sweeping precedent that limits judicial oversight of TPS decisions, affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries like Haiti, El Salvador and Nicaragua and conflict zones including Ukraine and Afghanistan. 'If the Supreme Court ruled that the judge doesn't have the jurisdiction to overrule the secretary's order, that would set a terrible and defining precedent for 17 countries with TPS and for other immigration processes as well', said Ferro. 'It would mean that a federal judge can't stop, even temporarily, a decision by the Secretary of Homeland Security. It would be devastating.' In its 41-page brief to the court, the administration argued that immigration policy decisions—such as whether to extend or terminate TPS—fall squarely within the authority of the executive branch. Solicitor General John Sauer told the court that judicial interference could undermine the 'flexible, fast-paced and discretionary' nature of immigration enforcement. Despite the administration's claim that continued TPS protection for Venezuelans is 'contrary to the national interest,' critics argue that revoking it amid Venezuela's ongoing humanitarian crisis is both inhumane and unjustified. 'I feel unprotected. But I've talked to my husband. If TPS is revoked, we won't leave. We'll wait for our asylum hearing,' Silva said. 'I still have hope that one day we will see a free Venezuela. But until that day comes, we simply cannot go back.'
Miami Herald
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘One-way ticket to a dungeon': Venezuelans anxious as Supreme Court weighs TPS decision
Dozens of Venezuelans gathered at El Arepazo, an iconic restaurant in the heart of Doral's Venezuelan community, for a vigil Thursday night in support of deportation protections now under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The event was organized for the Venezuelan American Caucus to show support for the Venezuelan community on the final day of arguments before the high court in a case that could determine whether Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans is upheld or revoked. 'Going back would be a one-way ticket to a dungeon or to death,' said Liduzka Aguilera. 'We cannot return. It's simply not safe.' Aguilera, 54, is a TPS holder living in Doral with her family of four. A former criminal attorney in Venezuela, she fled political persecution and arrived in the United States in 2018, where she applied for asylum. In 2021, she and her family were granted TPS. Now, they await a pivotal decision that could determine whether they remain safe or face the threat of being sent back to a country they fear. For her, returning to Venezuela is not just unimaginable — it's a matter of life or death. More than 600,000 Venezuelans hold TPS, making up 66% of the Venezuelan community in the United States of more than 900,000. Over the past two decades, the U.S. has experienced a dramatic surge in its Venezuelan population, driven by a mass exodus from a country devastated by a humanitarian and political crisis. Venezuelans are significantly less likely to be naturalized citizens than immigrants overall: in 2023, only 15% of Venezuelan immigrants had U.S. citizenship, and just 18% of Venezuelans in the United States were born in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census. A lawsuit brought by seven Venezuelans at risk of deportation and the advocacy group National TPS Alliance challenges the Trump administration's attempt to end TPS protections. Filed in federal court in San Francisco in February, the suit claims that the Trump administration's decision to end TPS — which had been extended by the Biden administration — was unlawful, politically driven, and rooted in racial discrimination, part of a larger pattern of targeting non-European, non-white immigrants. The legal fight escalated on May 1, when the administration formally asked the Supreme Court to overturn a March ruling by a federal judge in San Francisco that temporarily blocked the end of TPS for Venezuelans. That decision had come just days before protections were set to expire, potentially stripping hundreds of thousands of their legal status and right to work. READ MORE: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow revocation of TPS for Venezuelans Adelys Ferro, executive director of Venezuelan American Caucus, said during Thursday night's vigil that situations like Aguilera's are common in the Venezuelan community. She said that among the Venezuelan TPS holders are many who were politically persecuted, requested asylum after coming to the U.S. years ago, and have their cases are pending. 'With the TPS they finally have a legal status. How would these people return to Venezuela?' she asked. Ferro warned that Venezuelans with pending asylum cases risk being sent back to face imprisonment or even death at the hands of the Nicolás Maduro regime. She stressed the devastating impact mass deportations would have, not just on individuals, but on entire communities. 'They just rescued five Venezuelans from an embassy in Caracas,' Ferro said, echoing the words of Secretary of State Marco Rubio referring to the extraction over the weekend of five opposition leaders who had holed up in the Argentinian embassy in Venezuela. 'Five hostages of the criminal, usurping dictatorship of Maduro,' Ferro added. 'And now, they want to send 600,000 Venezuelans back to that same regime — among them, tens of thousands who are politically persecuted. 'If thousands of Venezuelans are forced to leave the country, cities like Doral would be economically devastated,' she said. 'This city was built by immigrants, especially Venezuelan immigrants. Without them, Doral wouldn't even exist. The cost of losing them is immense, not just in human terms, which is the most important, but economically, for the cities where they live and contribute every day.' READ MORE: Judge stops Trump administration from ending TPS for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans In their arguments to the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, emphasized that the lower court had jurisdiction to consider the claims. They pointed to 'unrebutted evidence' showing that the administration's decision was motivated by a. discriminatory mindset. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, they argued, justified the termination using false and inflammatory stereotypes, such as the debunked claim that Venezuela had 'emptied its prisons' to send criminals to the U.S. She publicly associated Venezuelan TPS recipients with 'gang members,' 'dirt bags,' and 'dangerous criminals,' despite data showing they have lower crime rates and higher labor force participation than the general U.S. population. Vigils in 15 cities Marisol Silva, 64, arrived in the U.S. in 2021 with her husband. Both are retired and could no longer afford to live in Venezuela, where the collapsing economy made even basic necessities unaffordable. They came to reunite with their daughter, a journalist who fled the country eight years earlier after being persecuted for speaking out against the regime. Silva and her husband became TPS holders in 2023, a protection the Trump administration decided would end in April . However, a ruling by U.S. Circuit Judge Edward Chen extended the deadline, allowing them to remain in the country. Their work permits were granted under their pending asylum case, but the uncertainty surrounding their deportation status, she said, remains excruciating. In Venezuela, she added, they were affiliated with one of the country's largest opposition parties, making the prospect of a forced return especially dangerous. They are among nearly 350,000 Venezuelans who received TPS in 2023 and were at risk of losing the protection last month. Another 257,000 Venezuelans who were granted TPS in 2021 are facing a similar threat, with their protections scheduled to expire in September. Thursday's vigils were held in at least 15 cities nationwide — from Spokane, Washington, to San Juan and New York and Chicago — but the largest demonstrations took place in Florida, home to the country's largest Venezuelan population. In Doral, Orlando, and Jacksonville, communities came together in emotional displays of solidarity, urging the courts to preserve the protections that have allowed them to build lives in the U.S. Venezuelan Americans gathered to show support for their community regardless of immigration status. Many have family members still fighting for protection, including loved ones without legal status. Carol Quintero, 70, is one of them. Her husband, 71, who lost his legal status decades ago, was finally able to regain a measure of security through TPS. But that relief is fragile. 'I feel anxious all the time,' she said. 'I've had panic attacks just thinking about what would happen if he lost his protection. He could be deported at any moment.' Quintero said. Cecilia Herrera, the only plaintiff in the San Francisco case from Florida and a resident of Kissimmee, told the Herald from Orlando that the gathering there was an expression of the community's resilience and a call for justice.'I know it's crucial for us to come together and show both the government and the Supreme Court that our lives are at stake,' she said. 'We are not here just as TPS holders — we are mothers, fathers, workers, and active members of our communities who contribute to this country's progress' Herrera said. 'We are here today to send a clear message: We will not give up our fight for the right to live with dignity and without fear.' The stakes at the Supreme Court extend beyond the Venezuelan community. If the court rules in favor of the administration, it could set a sweeping precedent that limits judicial oversight of TPS decisions, affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries like Haiti, El Salvador and Nicaragua and conflict zones including Ukraine and Afghanistan. 'If the Supreme Court ruled that the judge doesn't have the jurisdiction to overrule the secretary's order, that would set a terrible and defining precedent for 17 countries with TPS and for other immigration processes as well', said Ferro. 'It would mean that a federal judge can't stop, even temporarily, a decision by the Secretary of Homeland Security. It would be devastating.' In its 41-page brief to the court, the administration argued that immigration policy decisions—such as whether to extend or terminate TPS—fall squarely within the authority of the executive branch. Solicitor General John Sauer told the court that judicial interference could undermine the 'flexible, fast-paced and discretionary' nature of immigration enforcement. Despite the administration's claim that continued TPS protection for Venezuelans is 'contrary to the national interest,' critics argue that revoking it amid Venezuela's ongoing humanitarian crisis is both inhumane and unjustified. 'I feel unprotected. But I've talked to my husband. If TPS is revoked, we won't leave. We'll wait for our asylum hearing,' Silva said. 'I still have hope that one day we will see a free Venezuela. But until that day comes, we simply cannot go back.'
