Trump opens the door to early deportation of many Venezuelans from the United States

Venezuelans in the United States will lose the roughly one-year temporary protection from deportation given earlier this month by departing President Joe Biden.

Some Venezuelan migrants with TPS might lose their legal right to live and work in the United States as early as this spring. Migrants with expired TPS may risk deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, which the Trump administration has tasked with carrying out the greatest deportation drive in American history.

On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem terminated Biden's latest extension of Temporary Protected Status, which permitted qualified Venezuelans to stay legally and work until October 2, 2026.

Venezuelans who have had TPS since March 11, 2024 will see it expire on September 10 of this year.

Temporary Protected Status is awarded to those who are already in the United States but are unable to return due to events in their home country, such as natural catastrophes or political unrest.

The Trump administration's decision means that Venezuelans who sought for TPS under the 2021 designation will be allowed to preserve their work permits and deportation protections until September. Those that filed under the 2023 designation will enjoy TPS until at least early April.

People with TPS are ineligible for citizenship unless sponsored by an employer or a family member. The protection is normally effective for several months and must be renewed by the president, who typically talks with DHS and the Department of State about the country's situation. If the president renews the protection, TPS recipients must reapply.

In January, Biden extended TPS to over 600,000 Venezuelans.

The Biden administration employed TPS on an unprecedented scale, granting the status to hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees from crisis-stricken nations such as Afghanistan, Cameroon, Haiti, and Ukraine.

Trump administration officials are expected to cut back on some of those initiatives, arguing that TPS designations have been renewed much too frequently, despite the policy's transitory nature.