U.S. policymakers from both sides of the aisle have a long history of denouncing authoritarian power grabs under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. In general, that support for democracy in Venezuela has translated into support for the Venezuelan diaspora in the U.S.
That bipartisan commitment, however, is now in peril. Within days of taking office, the Trump administration moved to scrap two major legal pathways—Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and humanitarian parole—that shield hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans from deportation and allow them to work legally in the U.S. These decisions have sent shockwaves through Venezuelan communities in the U.S. as many now scramble to find alternative pathways to being deported directly into the hands of Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime.
On January 20, President Trump issued an executive order instructing the secretary of Homeland Security to terminate parole programs, including those for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. As of December 2024, 117,330 Venezuelan nationals had entered the U.S. under humanitarian parole.
Then on February 3, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded the Biden administration’s January 10, 2025 extension of the Venezuela TPS designation, meaning 348,202 recipients will be stripped of their status in April. A further 242,700 Venezuelans who were granted TPS under a 2021 designation are likely to face the same fate when their protections expire in September.
In all, some 700,000 Venezuelans will lose their work authorizations and face deportation if they are unable to acquire another legal status.
Lawful immigration pathways ensure safe and orderly processing of individuals into the U.S. while allowing migrants to be productive, pay taxes, provide for their families, and integrate into receiving communities. By revoking TPS and humanitarian parole programs, the U.S. is turning its back on Venezuelan migrants fleeing a country that Secretary Rubio himself recently affirmed imprisons and tortures innocent individuals. Congressional offices—Democratic and Republican alike—who once championed these protections must act to restore them.
Overview of Venezuelan migration to the U.S.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates there are 13.7 million unauthorized migrants in the U.S.
Although the total number is estimated to be larger, according to the most recent data by the U.S. Census Bureau (2023), 903,153 Venezuelans live in the U.S. Of them, 75.1 percent entered the country after 2010 in the context of Venezuela’s long-standing political, human rights, and humanitarian crises.
While 27 percent of the Venezuelan population—some 8 million people—has been forced to flee, the vast majority of them have remained in Latin American countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. Nearly 89 percent of Venezuelan migrants and refugees—eight out of nine people—have settled in countries other than the U.S. This has been made possible thanks to integration efforts and programs funded in part by U.S. foreign assistance in those countries. These programs, however, have been severely impacted by the foreign aid freeze, which has forced both “Operation Welcome” in Brazil and the “Integration Centers” in Colombia to halt operations.
Furthermore, the Safe Mobility Offices (SMO) established during the Biden administration in Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, have ceased operations without a clear plan or instructions on next steps for the cases that were being processed. There is no public information about the numbers or current situation of people previously approved to enter the U.S. via other legal pathways through these processing offices. The executive order suspending the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) means that those approved for resettlement who had not yet traveled to the U.S. had their trips canceled. It is now unclear whether these individuals will still have access to legal pathways available in these host countries. For example, Venezuelans who were processed through the SMO in Colombia and approved for resettlement in the U.S. under USRAP, had to give up their temporary protection status in Colombia as part of the process.
Refugee & Asylum Status
| Category | Value | Source |
| Pending asylum cases for Venezuelans (as of Dec. 2024) | 132,272 | Syracuse TRAC |
| Asylum grant rate for Venezuelans (FY2024) | 64.4% | Syracuse TRAC |
| Venezuelans admitted as refugees (FY2021–2023) | 1,340 | DHS |
Immigration Status
| Category | Value | Source |
| Vetted & approved for humanitarian parole (as of Dec. 2024) | 120,760 | CBP |
| Entered the U.S. with humanitarian parole (through Dec. 2024) | 117,330 | CBP |
| Vetted & approved for humanitarian parole but did not yet travel | 3,430 | CBP |
| TPS holders under 2021 designation (valid through Sept. 2025) | 242,700 | DHS |
| TPS holders under 2023 designation (as of Mar. 31, 2024) | 344,335 | CRS |
| Green cards issued to Venezuelans (FY2021–2023) | 53,880 | DHS |
| Venezuelans removed from the U.S. (FY2021–2024) | 4,440 | ICE |
TPS designation for Venezuelans
TPS protections may be granted to citizens of specific countries when conditions in those countries prevent nationals from returning safely. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with appropriate agencies of the U.S. government and in line with the Immigration and Nationality Act, first designated Venezuelans as eligible for TPS on March 9, 2021 for a period of 18 months.
All TPS applicants undergo security and background checks as part of the process to determine their eligibility. They may also apply for employment and travel authorization. TPS is not automatically granted, nor does it provide a path to lawful permanent resident status, although some TPS recipients may be independently eligible to adjust status through a family-based, employment-based, or other legal avenue such as asylum. According to USCIS, anyone convicted of a felony or two misdemeanors is not eligible for TPS or may lose their status.
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans
| Designation | 2021 TPS Designation | 2023 TPS Designation (extension revoked)1 |
| Designation Date | Mar. 9, 2021 | Oct. 3, 2023 |
| Re-designation Dates | Sep. 20, 2023 Jan. 10, 2025 (revoked) | Jan. 10, 2025 (revoked) |
| Current TPS Valid Through | Sep. 10, 2025 | Apr. 7, 2025 |
| Registration Period | Mar. 9, 2021 – Sept. 5, 2021 | Oct. 3, 2023 – Apr. 2, 2025 |
| Continuous Physical Presence Required Since | Mar. 9, 2021 | Oct. 3, 2023 |
The situation in Venezuela remains dire and protection for migrants and refugees is necessary
In her agency’s termination notice for TPS, DHS secretary Kristi Noem reasoned that “Venezuela no longer continues to meet the conditions for the 2023 designation,” without elaborating how. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) rejected this notion, noting that “in fact, some of the political instability in the country has increased following the recent elections.”
In 2021, DHS designated Venezuelans as eligible under these considerations:
Venezuela is currently facing a severe humanitarian emergency. Under Nicolás Maduro’s influence, the country “has been in the midst of a severe political and economic crisis for several years.” Venezuela’s crisis has been marked by a wide range of factors, including: Economic contraction; inflation and hyperinflation; deepening poverty; high levels of unemployment; reduced access to and shortages of food and medicine; a severely weakened medical system; the reappearance or increased incidence of certain communicable diseases; a collapse in basic services; water, electricity, and fuel shortages; political polarization; institutional and political tensions; human rights abuses and repression; crime and violence; corruption; increased human mobility and displacement (including internal migration, emigration, and return); and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors. [Bold added for emphasis].
Venezuela indeed remains one of the most repressive environments in Latin America, where civil society faces gross human rights violations, severe censorship, and government control. Human rights organizations, independent media, and activists are under constant threat from the authoritarian regime, which has systematically dismantled democratic institutions, restricted the flow of information, and violated the fundamental rights of Venezuelans. Civic space in Venezuela remains closed, and the approval of a law to control and regulate non-governmental organizations further threatens civil society.
Following the presidential election, protests erupted, but were quickly suffocated by the authorities’ brutal repression campaign. The arbitrary nature of the elections, the evidence proving Edmundo González Urrutia’s victory, the detention of about 2,000 people, and the killing of 25 others have drawn international outcry. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) qualified these as state-sponsored terrorism practices, using the same terminology with which it once described the heinous human rights violations of Southern Cone dictatorships in the 1970s.
This repression unfolds amid an ongoing humanitarian emergency. Even while some economic indicators such as household income have moderately improved in the last year, humanitarian indicators paint a challenging picture. HumVenezuela’s 2024 household survey revealed that seven in ten Venezuelan households turned to alternative strategies to feed their families, while half of those with serious health problems did not receive medical attention in 2024 due to the country’s collapsed health system. The study shows that at least 13.5 million people face critical humanitarian needs and 5.6 million face severe humanitarian deprivations.
Historical bipartisan support for protecting Venezuelans from deportation
President Trump has previously acknowledged the risk that Venezuelans fleeing persecution could face if repatriated. On January 19, 2021, his administration determined “that it is in the foreign policy interest of the United States to defer the removal of any national of Venezuela, or alien without nationality who last habitually resided in Venezuela, subject to the conditions and exceptions provided.” President Trump thereby deferred for 18 months the removal of Venezuelans present in the U.S. by then, barring certain exceptions.
Historically, bipartisan recognition of Venezuela’s severe human rights violations and political crisis has led to broad support for legal pathways for Venezuelans in the U.S. Examples include:
- December 2018: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced a bill to designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to be eligible for temporary protected status under such section and to strengthen internal integration systems in countries surrounding Venezuela (S. 3759). Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), now Secretary of State, was among the co-sponsors of the bill.
- May 2019: Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) introduced the TPS and DED Protection Act of 2019 (H.R. 2783). The bill was also co-sponsored with bipartisan support, including Republican representative Mario Díaz-Balart.
- July 2019: Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) introduced the Venezuela TPS Act of 2019 (H.R. 549). That bill had 33 bipartisan co-sponsors and passed the House.
- January 2021: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the Venezuela Temporary Protected Status Act of 2021 (S. 50). It had 11 co-sponsors, including then Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
- June 2023: Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) introduced the Venezuelan Adjustment Act (H.R.4048), a bipartisan initiative with 15 co-sponsors that sought to give lawful permanent residence to Venezuelans who entered the U.S. before December 31, 2021.
Even after the most recent decision to repeal TPS, Republican Representatives Carlos Giménez, Mario Díaz-Balart, and María Elvira Salazar issued a joint statement in solidarity with the Venezuelan people.
Actions that U.S. policymakers can take
Revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans would be detrimental to the U.S. economy, as people with valid work permits under the humanitarian parole and TPS are already active contributors to the labor force. The U.S. has always shown support and solidarity for Venezuela’s fight for democracy. Now, it needs to show solidarity for Venezuelans who have fled Maduro’s authoritarian regime. It is up to policymakers to adopt measures that are coherent with that view and reinstate the protection granted lawfully to these Venezuelan nationals.
WOLA urges members of Congress to use their authority and consider the following actions:
- Urge the Administration to Reverse TPS Termination
Congress can urge the administration to revoke the decision to terminate the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuela and redesignate it for 18 months. Venezuelan nationals who registered for TPS under the 2021 designation should also be eligible to apply, allowing current beneficiaries to retain TPS for that period if they re-register and continue to meet eligibility requirements. - Legislate Permanent Protections
Congress can pass legislation to protect affected individuals, codifying protections or pathways to legal status that the White House is seeking to revoke. - Conduct Rigorous Oversight
Congress should question administration officials about the justification and impact of such revocations for Venezuelan nationals. Measures adopted should comply with the international principle of non-refoulement for those who fear for their life, liberty, or integrity if returned to Venezuela. Congress should also conduct oversight on the use of federal funds for detention and deportation efforts targeting individuals impacted by the termination of the 2023 TPS designation. - Assert Congressional Authority
Congress should assert its oversight and legislative authority to ensure that the executive branch fully complies with legal obligations in immigration enforcement. Congress should request reporting from appropriate agencies on immigration detention conditions, asylum processing, and deportation practices, as well as pursue further actions regarding agencies that violate constitutional and international established standards. More specifically, Congress should conduct oversight regarding the flights to Guantánamo and deportations to countries like El Salvador, insisting on the right to due process of law and ensuring humane conditions.
