DORAL, Fla. – President Donald Trump’s administration will not be renewing the Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans when it expires in April.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Wednesday that she reversed her predecessor’s decision to renew the TPS until October 2026.
In response, Rep. María Elvira Salazar released a statement saying she supports both President Donald Trump and TPS for Venezuelans fleeing political persecution.
“There is a simple solution to this: Maduro has to go! Trump is the only force to get him out,” Salazar said.
Noem’s decision affects about 600,000 Venezuelans who will no longer be protected from deportation after April 2025.
Jose Maria Ramirez, who was born in Venezuela and lives in Miami-Dade County, reacted to the news outside of El Arepazo in Doral.
“It’s worrisome because we all have a relationship with someone in that situation,” Ramirez said in Spanish. “People are starting to ask, ‘What am I going to do? What’s going to work for me, so I could stay here?‘”
TPS also allowed Venezuelan migrants to apply for driver’s licenses and work permits. Attorney Wilfredo Allen said Venezuelans who have asylums pending in the court or in the asylum office are safe.
Federal agents reported arresting several members of the Tren de Aragua, a gang that started in a prison in Venezuela and now has a terrorist designation in the U.S.
“Once Maduro is gone — there will be peace for Venezuelans," Salazar said.
Earlier this month, despite the opposition’s reports that Nicolás Maduro had stolen last year’s election, he was sworn in for his third six-year term as president.
There was a ceremony with Maduro’s loyalists at the National Assembly in Caracas. Lawmakers, judges, and military leaders were in attendance.
“Maduro must go and this will allow Venezuelans to safely return to live with freedom in their homeland,” Salazar said.
Maduro’s persecuted opposition count on Edmundo González and María Corina Machado to continue to engage with diplomacy, and defiant social media posts and rallies.
While the opposition has support from the U.S., Britain, the European Union, and Canada, Maduro counts on the support of China and Russia.