After Supreme Court Backs Trump Administration’s Plan To End Protections For Venezuelan Migrants, Venezuelan-Americans Questions Support For Trump

by Evelyn QiuMay 26, 2025, 7:13 pmNews >

Last week, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 340,000 Venezuelans, a significant shift in immigration policy that opens the door to widespread deportations.

In a brief, unsigned order, the Court lifted a lower court’s injunction that had halted the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections granted under the Biden administration. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only member of the Court to dissent publicly.

TPS, a humanitarian program established by Congress, provides work authorization and protection from deportation to nationals of countries experiencing war, natural disasters or other crises. Venezuela was first designated for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2021, with an extension announced by former President Joe Biden just before he left office in January. That extension was set to run through October 2026.

President Donald Trump has made aggressive immigration enforcement a key focus of his administration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rescinded the 2023 TPS designation for Venezuelans shortly after taking office, arguing that conditions in Venezuela no longer justified the protections.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

A legal challenge quickly followed, with plaintiffs including TPS holders and advocacy organizations. A federal judge in San Francisco sided with them last year, blocking the termination and calling the administration’s justification “baseless” and “racist,” noting that the population in question was statistically more educated and less likely to commit crimes than the general U.S. population.

Many TPS holders now face deep uncertainty. Maria Rodriguez, a 33-year-old mother living in Orlando, said she fears for her family’s future. “We left Venezuela because we couldn’t survive. We have no one to return to,” she said.

Many in the Venezuelan-American community in Florida, who strongly backed Trump in the 2024 election, are questioning their support for the president.

“I’m a die-hard Trump Republican, but I feel defrauded,” Isabel Martín, a radio host, told The New York Times. “Some bad people have come in, but they’re not all Tren de Aragua. There are very good people like you and me, hardworking people.”

The decision is among several recent moves by the Trump administration to scale back immigration protections, including the termination of TPS for Afghans and Cameroonians earlier this year. While the legal fight may continue, the order marks the most significant rollback of TPS in recent U.S. history, affecting hundreds of thousands of lives and reshaping the immigration policy landscape.