Advocates ask Donald Trump administration to reinstate TPS for Venezuelans, stop deportations after Nicolas Maduro captured

CHICAGO (WLS) — More than 13,000 Venezuelans were deported by the Trump administration last year after their Temporary Protected Status was revoked. Advocates are now calling for those deportations to be halted and TPS reinstated, at least until the situation on the ground stabilizes. The administration signaled over the weekend, however, that they intend to do no such thing.

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Even as Venezuelans in the United States continue to celebrate the removal and detention of now-former President Nicolás Maduro, there is also uncertainty. What does this mean, if anything, for the hundreds of thousands whose legal status here has been revoked?

“The law is clear. We don’t send people back that would be harmed. But we don’t have laws in place to protect individuals like Venezuelans because we took their TPS away,” said National Trial Lawyers Immigration Law Section President Christopher Helt.

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About 600,000 Venezuelans were stripped of their protected status last year. The administration argued that the situation on the ground had improved, rendering the protection unnecessary. It is an argument that Department of Homeland Security officials reiterated over the weekend on Fox News.

“They can now go home with hope for their country, a country that they love that is going to have peace, prosperity and stability,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

But will they return of their own volition? It is estimated that some 50,000 Venezuelan migrants settled in Illinois over the last three years after being bused there from Texas. Advocates say it is unrealistic to expect them all to leave, even with Maduro now out of power.

“The first thing we would like to see happen is for deportations to be stopped,” said Luciano Pedota with the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance. “It’s still a very dangerous place. We’re very concerned about how it’s going to play out.”

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The administration implied over the weekend that those who feel their safety is at risk can apply for asylum. The problem is, for most already here, that the time frame for doing that has already passed.

“There are thousands and thousands of Venezuelans who did not file within one year of entering the United States. Why? Because they had TPS. So, for those who want to file now, they are facing a huge uphill battle,” Helt said.

And even those with pending asylum cases are in limbo.

“It’s not the moment. I’m sure some Venezuelans would like to go back, eventually,” Pedota said.

But even as some immigration observers expect judges to begin denying asylum petitions based on a changed situation on the ground in Venezuela, attorneys say policy is changing constantly, and Venezuelans here need to remain up-to-date on all of those changes.

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