U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has shortened the duration of deportation protections for approximately 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States, as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to remove Venezuelan nationals, she announced on Wednesday.
Speaking with Fox News, Noem confirmed that she had revoked the previous administration’s decision to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans by 18 months. This move now raises the possibility that these protections could expire later this year.
Simultaneously, Noem stated that she was collaborating with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to explore options for deporting Venezuelan and other migrants from countries that restrict the number of deportees they accept. When asked about the possibility of sending migrants to the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she acknowledged that the administration was considering the option.
Guantanamo Bay houses a migrant facility—separate from the high-security prison—that has been used intermittently for decades to detain migrants, including Haitians and Cubans intercepted at sea.
Trump Administration Moves to Reverse TPS Expansions
President Donald Trump, who took office on January 20, has prioritized a stricter immigration policy, aiming to curb both illegal migration and humanitarian programs that he argues extend beyond their intended purpose. During his first term, Trump attempted to end most TPS enrollments but was blocked by federal courts.
TPS grants temporary legal status to individuals from countries experiencing natural disasters, armed conflicts, or other extraordinary crises. Former President Joe Biden significantly expanded the program, which now covers more than one million people from 17 nations. If TPS protections are revoked, many of these migrants—some of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades—could face deportation.
Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, had extended TPS for Venezuelans shortly before Trump’s inauguration. While existing protections were not set to expire until April for some recipients and September for others, Mayorkas also extended TPS for individuals from El Salvador, Ukraine, and Sudan.
Noem told Fox News that the Trump administration rejected Mayorkas’ last-minute decision, arguing that it should not be bound by policies enacted in the final days of Biden’s presidency. She also emphasized the administration’s intent to address concerns about alleged Venezuelan gang activity.
“We are going to follow the process, evaluate all of these individuals that are in our country, including the Venezuelans that are here and members of TdA,” Noem said, referring to the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).
Noem must decide by Saturday whether to terminate TPS for Venezuelans whose protections expire in April, according to a revocation notice reviewed by Reuters.
The uncertainty surrounding TPS has left many Venezuelans in the U.S. anxious. Laura Gatica, an Ohio notary who assists migrants with immigration paperwork and immigrated from Venezuela herself, highlighted the potential consequences.
“Many migrants depend entirely on their TPS status to be able to work legally,” she said. “I know immigrants working at big companies, medium-sized companies, hotels, Amazon, elder-care centers, hospitals.”
U.S. Explores Deportation Agreements with Other Nations
Noem also revealed that Rubio was actively negotiating with foreign governments to increase their acceptance of deported migrants.
“I was talking to him on the phone at one o’clock in the morning, and he was up and still discussing negotiations with other countries,” Noem said. “And the president, clearly, will exercise all the authority and power that he has to make these countries take them back.”
Relations between the U.S. and Venezuela remain strained, characterized by diplomatic breakdowns, sanctions, and allegations of criminal activity and coup attempts. In recent years, both Venezuela and Cuba have accepted only a limited number of deportees, even as hundreds of thousands of their citizens have entered the U.S. illegally.
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González urged the Trump administration not to negotiate with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, instead suggesting deportees be sent to a third country.
“It’s in the United States’ best interest to follow a strategy that helps ensure Nicolás Maduro is no longer in power,” González told the Washington Post on Wednesday.
Immigration Crackdown Expands to New Detention Sites
On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced plans to use a base in Aurora, Colorado, as a migrant detention facility. Aurora became a focal point during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign when he claimed it had been overrun by Venezuelan gang members, an assertion denied by local officials.
During his campaign, Trump pledged to launch a nationwide initiative, “Operation Aurora,” to target alleged gang members, but the administration has yet to implement the plan.
(Reuters)