The President Donald Trump administration will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 256,000 Venezuelans, paving the stage for deportation.
The designation, initially issued by President Joe Biden in 2021 and enlarged in 2023, provided qualifying migrants with work permits and protection from removal.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson stated, “Weighing public safety, national security, migration factors, immigration policy, economic considerations, and foreign policy, it’s clear that allowing Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is not in America’s best interest.”
The spokesperson added, “Given Venezuela’s substantial role in driving irregular migration and the clear magnet effect created by Temporary Protected Status, maintaining or expanding TPS for Venezuelan nationals directly undermines the Trump Administration’s efforts to secure our southern border and manage migration effectively.”
TPS will end on September 10, although DHS stated that “the termination will come into effect 60 days after the publication of the Federal Register notice.”
Pending applications (3,728 new and over 102,000 renewals) will also be canceled.
Venezuelans who register their departure on the CBP Home app will receive a free airfare, a $1,000 prize, and potential future immigration possibilities.
The move follows a Supreme Court decision authorizing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to revoke TPS despite previous legal challenges. In April, Trump rescinded Biden’s 2023 TPS decision, which affected 348,000 Venezuelans.
The decision occurred a day after Trump revealed a US strike on a narcotics vessel from Venezuela, which killed 11 alleged Tren de Aragua members.
“You’ll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat,” Trump said, warning traffickers: “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. Bewere!”
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced the US military buildup in the Caribbean as “an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral, and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.”
