Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem has decided to end temporary humanitarian protections for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans who sought refuge in the United States in the last few years, putting them at imminent risk of being forced to return to the autocratic regime they left behind in South America.
DHS to end temporary protection for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans
Kristi Noem’s decision to end temporary protective status for a large group of Venezuelans puts them at risk of being forced to return to the autocratic regime they fled.
February 2, 2025 The Washington Post
The Biden administration had extended their protections through the fall of 2026, citing extreme poverty, and economic and political crises. But the Trump administration quickly reversed that decision, and now the group that received temporary protection in 2023 could lose it 60 days after the memo is officially published in the Federal Register.
Noem also determined that allowing Venezuelans to live and work in the United States is “contrary to the national interest,” she said, citing gang activity — though criminals are generally ineligible for temporary protection — as well as the cost to cities such as New York to shelter migrants and other concerns.
Noem acknowledged that Venezuela is still struggling with many of the issues the Biden administration raised, but she said there were “notable improvements in several areas such as the economy, public health, and crime.”
“In particular, the Secretary has determined it is contrary to the national interest to permit the covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States,” the memo reads. The New York Times first reported on the protection revocations.
Ending protections for Venezuelans is a marked shift for the Trump administration. In one of the last acts of his first term, Trump granted Venezuelans permission to stay in the United States because of the “catastrophic” conditions in their homeland. Secretary of State Marco Rubio lobbied intensively for the temporary protections as a senator, and wrote in 2022 that it would be a “very real death sentence” to force Venezuelans to return home.
Political support for Venezuelans waned, however, after the slaying last year of a Georgia nursing student by a man from Venezuela with a criminal record. The man did not have temporary protected status, but Trump repeatedly referred to the murder on the campaign trail. He recently signed into law the Laken Riley Act, expanding mandatory detention for immigrants arrested for theft-related crimes.
This is a developing story and will be updated.