US ending protected status for Venezuelans; memo cites 'notable improvements' in country

The Trump administration has decided to end protected status for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in the United States. In the July 28, 2024, photo, Venezuelans in Herriman mark presidential elections in their home country.

The Trump administration has decided to end protected status for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in the United States. In the July 28, 2024, photo, Venezuelans in Herriman mark presidential elections in their home country. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)


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KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • The U.S. government is ending protected status for Venezuelans, citing, in part, improvements in Venezuela's economy and safety.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's decision affects 348,202 Venezuelan immigrants in the United States.
  • Advocates argue Venezuelans could face danger returning to their home country while Noem noted criminal gang threats and taxpayer costs associated with Venezuelans in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — Federal officials have officially decided to end a program that has allowed nearly 350,000 Venezuelans across the country to lawfully remain and work in the United States.

The decision by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, making an effective end date of April 6 — reverses a decision by Alejandro Mayorkas, her predecessor under President Joe Biden. Mayorkas on Jan. 10 — 10 days before President Donald Trump was inaugurated to his second term, replacing Biden — had extended temporary protected status for affected Venezuelans to Oct. 2, 2026, prompting relief among many in Utah who benefit from the TPS designation.

Noem, however, has determined that the country no longer meets conditions required to garner temporary protected status and "decided to terminate" the designation, reads the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. "In particular, the secretary has determined it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States," reads the draft termination notice.

Temporary protected status, or TPS, is granted to people from countries dealing with political upheaval or natural disasters, among other things. Biden administration officials made the initial determination with regard to Venezuela in 2021 given the political and economic conditions in the country under President Nicolás Maduro, a socialist. They renewed it in 2023. The draft notice by Noem, however, says some conditions in the South American country are better.

"Overall, certain conditions for the 2023 TPS designation of Venezuela may continue; however, there are notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health and crime that allow for these nationals to be safely returned to their home country," reads the draft notice. Advocates for Venezuelan immigrants have countered that, saying some returning to the country could face detention, death even, for having left the nation in the first place.

Noem's notice, furthermore, notes the danger posed by members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan-based criminal gang, in the United States. "Tren de (Aragua) has been blamed for sex trafficking, drug smuggling, police shootings, kidnappings and the exploitation of migrants," it reads.

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She also notes the cost to taxpayers of supporting immigrants in the country and the broader revisioning of immigration policy under Trump, who has made deportation of immigrants here illegally a priority.

"Continuing to permit Venezuelans under the 2023 TPS designation to remain in the United States does not champion core American interests or put American interests first. U.S. foreign policy interests, particularly in the Western Hemisphere, are best served and protected by curtailing policies that facilitate or encourage illegal and destabilizing migration," reads Noem's draft notice.

Impacted will be 348,202 Venezuelans in the United States. Another 250,000 or so Venezuelans in the country with temporary protected status that expires on Sept. 10, 2025, are not affected. The notice didn't offer a hint of their fate.

The evolving situation has been closely watched by Venezuelans in Utah and beyond, who have said that criminal elements like Tren de Aragua members represent a minority of Venezuelans. One Utah attorney has said Venezuelans impacted by the end of the temporary protected status designation could conceivably apply for asylum in the United States given conditions in their home country.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL.com. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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