The Trump administration is ending a deportation shield for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S., opening the door to them being deported -- just as President Donald Trump has secured an agreement with the socialist country to take back its nationals.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital that more than 300,000 nationals protected by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2023 are having their statuses revoked. The New York Times, which first reported details of the move, reported that they will lose temporary status 60 days after the government first publishes the notice.
TPS grants protection from deportation and allows work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. Then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced extensions for TPS for Venezuela, as well as El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine, for an additional 18 months in the final few days of the Biden administration. That move, if left in place, would have complicated Trump efforts to deport large numbers of those nationalities.
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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week announced that the extension was being revoked, but this move would prematurely end the status altogether. It will apply to those protected by the 2023 designation, but not those protected by a 2021 designation.
Republicans have long been skeptical of the program, arguing that it has been used too broadly, with 17 countries designated at the end of the Biden administration. The first Trump administration cut down on the use of TPS and has indicated it intends to do the same in the second administration.
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Venezuelans were one of the top nationalities coming into the U.S. at the height of the 2021-2024 border crisis, with many also coming in through a separate parole policy for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans -- a program now ended by the Trump administration.
On Saturday, Trump said that an agreement had been made with Venezuela to take back its illegal immigrants. Venezuela had started taking back illegal immigrants in 2023 but stopped in early 2024.
"…Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua," Trump said on Truth Social.
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"Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back. We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries, and all Countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back."
The moves come amid a flurry of efforts by the Trump administration to secure the border and significantly ramp up the numbers of deportations and removals from the U.S. The administration has ended parole programs, limited the use of asylum and deployed the military to the southern border.
Meanwhile, Noem visited the southern border on Sunday, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently on a tour of Latin America. Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading to the southern border on Monday.
