CHICAGO (CBS) — The latest immigration action by the Trump administration has the Venezuelan community around the country on edge.
The administration is terminating an immigration program that currently protects hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S. from deportation and allows them to work legally. This past weekend, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked one of two Temporary Protected Status designations for Venezuela, which the U.S. government had previously determined was too dangerous to allow Venezuelans to return to their homeland safely.
As a result of the action, more than 300,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S. could see their Temporary Protected Status expire in April. The Trump administration says their protection will end in 60 days.
Andreina Hernandez left her native Venezuela more than nine years ago. She said she left to escape the crumbling political and economic conditions.
“The situation in Venezuela in that moment, it was horrible,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez came to the U.S. for a better life, and has built a new life in Chicago. She works as a medical assistant, her mom is also in Chicago, and the city is the only place her daughter has ever called home.
“We’re here to work and to get a better life here, so hopefully,” said Hernandez.
In 2021, Hernandez was granted Temporary Protected Status. But now, the Trump administration is now ending the TPS program.
“It’s like, how?” Hernandez said. “What am I going to do if they say, ‘Hey, you can’t work anymore?'”
Chicago immigration attorney Ingrid Cova was born and raised in Venezuela
“I have been experiencing a higher volume of calls,” she said.
Cova has been using social media to inform other Venezuelans on how to navigate the presidents latest action targeting the immigration system.
“People didn’t leave Venezuela just because they wanted to,” she said. “They left because of the crisis. They because they were being persecuted. They left because the government was oppressing them. Not everyone is a criminal, and like a lot of people here are just, you know, they’re here like building a life.”
Hernandez said she can’t imagine the possibility of returning to Venezuela, where political turmoil still persists.
“Hopefully some people touch their heart and think about the good people that want to work here and be here,” she said. “Not everybody is bad people.”
In the decision, The Department of Homeland Security said conditions had improved enough in Venezuela to warrant ending the protective status. Hernandez, Cova, and other activists strongly disagree.
contributed to this report.
