Venezuelan expats who supported President Donald Trump in the 2024 election campaign are outraged that his administration has revoked regulations that protect hundreds of thousands of them from deportation.
According to NPR, the Venezuelan immigrant community is deeply disillusioned after the Trump administration revoked Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan refugees who are legally residing in the United States.
Although the Trump administration claims that the program has been abused to bring criminals into the United States, many members of the community believe the administration is simply lying.
Adelys Ferro, director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, tells NPR that many of her fellow Venezuelan immigrants feel “beyond betrayed” by the move.
“They used us,” she explained. “During the campaign, elected Republican Party officials told us that he would not touch the documented people. They replied, “No, it’s with undocumented people.”
Carlos Pereira, a Venezuelan-American living in Doral, Florida, told NPR that the move to revoke TPS is causing people to panic.
“They’re scared,” he said, adding that it would be a “tragedy” to remove people’s protected status and return them to the country they fled.
Pereira also chastised Republican lawmakers who normally speak out against the Venezuelan government for remaining silent while Trump negotiates with leader Nicolas Maduro.
“They always speak out strongly against the Maduro regime. Now that Papi Trump is negotiating with Maduro, they shut their mouth?”
