Trump Administration Ends Protected Status for Venezuelans in US

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testifies during her confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 17, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Trump administration has ended the extension of a program that provides protection for about 600,000 Venezuelan nationals living in the United States, an official said on Jan. 29.

“We are withdrawing the directive on temporary status for Venezuelans,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said during an appearance on Fox News.

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Jan. 10 extended the Temporary Protected Status for the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals to 2026.

The program enables people from certain countries, in this case Venezuela, to legally stay in the United States. It does not provide them with a path to citizenship, although repeated extensions of the protection regularly occur.

Designations happen when officials determine that certain countries are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, natural disasters, or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions” in the countries “that prevent aliens who are nationals of the state from returning to the state in safety.”

The DHS said at the time that the extension stemmed from “the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the inhumane” regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“Before he left town, Mayorkas signed an order that said that for 18 months they were going to extend this protection to people that are in temporary protected status, which meant they were going to be able to stay here and violate our laws for another 18 months, and we stopped that,” Noem said on Jan. 29.

“We are going to follow the process, evaluate all of these individuals that are in our country, including the Venezuelans that are here.”

President Donald Trump tried to end Temporary Protected Status for people from countries outside of Venezuela, including Haiti and Sudan, but was blocked by a federal court. President Joe Biden in 2023 rescinded the bid to end the status.

Trump took aim at illegal immigrants in his initial days in office with a series of orders that included declaring a national emergency at the U.S.–Mexico border. Illegal immigration, and people being able to stay in the country under programs such as Temporary Protected Status, soared under Biden.

Early deportation efforts have resulted in 7,300 illegal immigrants being removed and sent back to their home countries, according to the DHS. Colombia backed down from its rejection of deportation flights after Trump threatened tariffs, while Brazilian officials said they were setting up a new reception center for deportees.

“This president expects that every nation on this planet will cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this week.

She later said: “To foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States, think again. Under this president, you will be detained, and you will be deported.”