RIGHT SPEAK: Noem Ends Temporary Protected Status for 350,000 Venezuelans; Noem Calls Deportation Protection for Venezuelans ‘contrary to the national interest’

Noem ends Temporary Protected Status for 350,000 Venezuelans:

President Trump’s administration is ending protections that shielded roughly 350,000 Venezuelans from deportation, leaving them with two months before they lose their right to work in the U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s order affects 348,202 Venezuelans living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status slated to expire in April. That’s about half of the approximately 600,000 who have the protection. The remaining protections are set to expire at the end of September.

The termination notice will be published Wednesday and go into effect 60 days later.

It’s among the latest Trump administration actions targeting the immigration system, as officials work to make good on promises of cracking down on people illegally living in the country and to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.

News of the decision threw Venezuelans living and working in the U.S. into turmoil.

“I feel like I’m in limbo - I will be undocumented beginning in April,” said Henry Carmona, a 48-year-old Venezuelan who described leaving his country after receiving threats on his life. “I cannot go back to Venezuela. I can go to jail. I fear for my life.”

In Venezuela, Carmona said, he worked as a painter for a government company but didn’t support the administration of President Nicolás Maduro. He was beaten by paramilitary forces close to Maduro, he said, and decided to leave.

Carmona arrived in the U.S. in 2022 and reunited in Miami with his wife and 17-year old daughter. The three requested TPS. He works in construction and said he’ll explore other ways to stay in the U.S. legally.

Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife, giving people authorization to work in increments of up to 18 months. About 1 million immigrants from 17 countries are protected by TPS. Venezuelans comprise one of the largest beneficiaries. --->READ MORE HERE

Photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta-Pool/Getty Images

Noem calls deportation protection for Venezuelans ‘contrary to the national interest’:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will not renew temporary protections for more than 350,000 Venezuelans who were granted those protections in 2023, paving the way for them to potentially face deportation by spring, according to a Monday prepublished Federal Register notice.

In the notice, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem revoked one of two Temporary Protected Status designations for Venezuelans, arguing that renewing TPS for the 2023 Venezuelan recipients is “contrary to the national interest of the United States.” She has cited gang activity as one factor in her decision.

Those 2023 TPS holders will have work permits and deportation protections until April.

President Donald Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement, signing a memo to open 30,000 beds for migrant detention in the military base Guantanamo Bay.

On Sunday, during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Noem would not answer questions from host Kristen Welker if migrant women, children and families who lack legal status in the United States would be held at Guantanamo Bay.

“You know, if you look at what we are doing today of targeting the worst of the worst, we’ve been very clear on that,” Noem said. “The priority of this president is to go after criminal aliens that are making our streets more dangerous.”

Legal pathways limited

The Trump administration has curtailed legal immigration pathways created under the Biden administration, such as ending humanitarian parole for asylum seekers and ending a separate program that granted work permits and protections for nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela if they had a U.S. sponsor and passed a background check.

Last week, Noem revoked the 18-month TPS extension for Venezuelans, something the Biden administration did shortly before leaving office. The extension under the Biden administration offered protections until October 2026.