US to deport more than 250,000 Venezuelans

The Trump administration will end the temporary protection status designation assigned to as many as 256,000 Venezuelans, paving the way for their deportation.

Former President Joe Biden issued two TPS orders for Venezuelans, the first in 2021 and a second in 2023, providing eligible migrants with work authorisation and temporary protection from deportation.

It is generally available to people whose home country has experienced a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event – but Trump has ruled that Venezuela no longer meets those requirements.

‘Weighing public safety, national security, migration factors, immigration policy, economic considerations, and foreign policy, it’s clear that allowing Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is not in America’s best interest.

Given Venezuela’s substantial role in driving irregular migration and the clear magnet effect created by Temporary Protected Status, maintaining or expanding TPS for Venezuelan nationals directly undermines the Trump Administration’s efforts to secure our southern border and manage migration effectively”, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

The TPS designation will expire on September 10, giving the more than 256,000 Venezuelans living in the United States under TPS status just seven days to begin arrangements to leave the country.

However, ‘the termination will come into effect 60 days after the publication of the Federal Register notice,’ DHS said.

In addition to the 256,000 Venezuelans under TPS that are impacted, the 3728 pending new applications for TPS will be terminated, along with 102,935 pending renewal applications.

Trump first took steps toward removing the protection for Venezuelans against deportation in February, less than a month after he returned to the White House.

At the time, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem ordered the TPS status extended to Venezuelans to be removed, arguing that their presence in the US is ‘contrary to the national interest.’

However, a judge in California blocked Noem’s action, calling it ‘predicated on negative stereotypes’ and unconstitutional.

The US Supreme Court later granted the federal government permission to proceed with deportations.

In April, Trump terminated the second Biden-era TPS, which was established in 2023. That decision meant an estimated 348,000 Venezuelan nationals lost their protected status and were required to leave the country, Fox News reported.

Venezuelan nationals who register their exit from the United States on the CBP Home app will receive a complimentary plane ticket, a $1,000 exit bonus, and potential future opportunities for legal immigration, DHS said.

The latest decision came just a day after Trump announced the US had conducted a lethal strike on a vessel involved in the drug trade that was coming out of Venezuela.

The president revealed that 11 Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists were killed in the attack.

“You’ll see that we just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,’ Trump said on Tuesday afternoon.

“We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time, and we just – these came out of Venezuela. And coming out very heavily from Venezuela, a lot of things are coming out of Venezuela, so we took it out.

Later, Trump jumped on Truth Social to share more details, including that no American military personnel were harmed.

“Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. Beware!’ the president said, ending the post with his trademark: “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”