NATIONAL & US NEWS

Trump administration ends temporary deportation protection for 350,000 Venezuelans

Feb 3, 2025, 12:01 PM | Updated: 2:06 pm

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 2...

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald 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.

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 are one of the largest beneficiaries.

In the decision, the Department of Homeland Security said conditions had improved enough in Venezuela to warrant ending protective status. Noem also said that the TPS designation had been used to allow people who otherwise didn’t have an immigration pathway to settle in America.

“The sheer numbers have resulted in associated difficulties in local communities,” the secretary’s decision says. She also cited members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as among those coming to the U.S.

The gang originated in a lawless prison in the central state of Aragua more than a decade ago but has expanded in recent years as millions of desperate Venezuelans fled President Nicolás Maduro’s rule and migrated to other parts of Latin America or the U.S.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly hammered at dangers posed by the gang, sparking criticism that he was painting all immigrants as criminals.

The TPS designation gives people legal authority to be in the country but doesn’t provide a long-term path to citizenship. They are reliant on the government renewing their status when it expires. Critics have said that over time, renewal of status becomes automatic, regardless of what’s happening in the person’s home country.

In the waning days of the Biden administration, Noem’s predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, extended the protections for Venezuelans until October 2026.

But Noem revoked that decision.

The U.S. doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, limiting deportation options. But Trump administration says it has made securing deportations to Venezuela a top goal. On Friday, his envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, traveled to Venezuela and met with Maduro. Six American prisoners there were released following the meeting.

After the visit Trump, wrote on his social media site Truth Social that Venezuela agreed to receive back their citizens, potentially breaking the deportation logjam.

Venezuela’s government has so far not confirmed that they will take back their citizens.

Trump took similar steps during his first term when he tried to end Temporary Protected Status for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. But immigration advocacy groups sued, keeping the restrictions from being pulled.

The news of the termination notice was first reported by The New York Times.

National & US News

FILE - Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Secretary o...

Associated Press

Can Trump bring unions into the GOP fold? His labor nominee presents a major test

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has repeatedly challenged Senate Republicans with his Cabinet picks. But his nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary may be proving the hardest for many to accept. Chavez-DeRemer, a former congresswoman from Oregon, hardly cuts the profile of a traditional Republican nominee. She is the daughter of a lifelong […]

12 hours ago

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) scores against the Kansas City Chiefs during the fi...

Associated Press

Super Bowl delivers moving tributes, memorable action and a historic presidential visit

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40–22 in the first Super Bowl to be held in New Orleans in a dozen years. It was played amid heavy security — and with President Donald Trump in attendance — just 41 days after a man plowed a truck into New Year’s […]

16 hours ago

A Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) feeds on agave nectar in Nuevo León, Mexico, in J...

Associated Press

Mexican long-nosed bats are no strangers to southeastern Arizona. The proof is in the saliva

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Scientists have long suspected that Mexican long-nosed bats migrate through southeastern Arizona, but without capturing and measuring the night-flying creatures, proof has been elusive. Researchers say they now have a way to tell the endangered species apart from other bats by analyzing saliva the nocturnal mammals leave behind when sipping nectar […]

19 hours ago

President Donald Trump gestures to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after being sworn in as...

Associated Press

Supreme Court that Trump helped shape could have the last word on his aggressive executive orders

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will need the Supreme Court, with three justices he appointed, to enable the most aggressive of the many actions he has taken in just the first few weeks of his second White House term. But even a conservative majority with a robust view of presidential power might balk at […]

19 hours ago

Hadi Matar, right, charged with severely injuring author Salman Rushdie in a 2022 knife attack, sit...

Associated Press

Opening statements set in trial of man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Lawyers are scheduled to deliver opening statements Monday at the trial of the man charged with trying to fatally stab author Salman Rushdie in front of a lecture audience in western New York. Rushdie, 77, is expected to testify during the trial of Hadi Matar, bringing the writer face-to-face with his […]

19 hours ago

Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean (33) scores a touchdown after intercepting a pass ...

Associated Press

Eagles deny the Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat with dominant defense in 40-22 rout

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Cooper DeJean, Josh Sweat and the Philadelphia Eagles’ ferocious defense denied Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat. It wasn’t even close. 22nd birthday, Sweat tormented Mahomes and the Eagles routed the Chiefs 40-22 on Sunday to secure the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship. Jalen […]

21 hours ago

Trump administration ends temporary deportation protection for 350,000 Venezuelans