Impact of Trump’s TPS Ruling: 50,000 Venezuelans in Chicago Face Uncertainty Over Deportation

Approximately 50,000 Venezuelans have made their way to Chicago in the last couple of years. Their futures are now uncertain due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that enabled the Trump administration to revoke their legal safety net.

Among them is a 30-year-old Venezuelan who holds a full-time job at a bakery and dedicates four hours weekly to volunteer at a warehouse, distributing essentials to those in need, including migrants. As a father of two, he is deeply afraid of potential deportation.

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“In reality, we live in desperation. I don’t know if it will happen when you go out and will see a strange car behind,” he said.

He remains anonymous out of fear, as the threat of deportation for him and his family has significantly increased following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. This decision authorized the Trump administration to end protections for nearly 350,000 Venezuelan migrants who were previously permitted to reside in the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.

“Now, you’re going after folks that we need to work in our country to do jobs that most Americans don’t want to do,” said Pastor John Zayas, with Grace & Peace Church.

Zayas has spent the last two years helping migrants settle in the Chicago area. He and immigration attorneys say some are well-established in their communities.

“They have a mortgage. They have a car. The threat of losing their work permit, they are not going to able sustain their mortgage, or provide for their families,” immigration lawyer Rocia Becerril said.

The 30-year-old Venezuelan man says his TPS expired in April. If he is deported, he says there is no work for him in Venezuela.

He says he came to the United States “for a good future, to live in peace, to work.”

He said he wanted to create a good future for his children.

Zayas says many of the families he works with say the conditions in Venezuela are so bad they would rather be in the U.S. living in fear under the threat of deportation than return.

“There’s hope here. There’s no hope over there, whoever’s in charge, whoever’s the president. There’s no hope; they know what’s waiting for them. This is still gives hope,” Zayas said.

While they hang on to a sliver of hope, Venezuelan migrants with jobs say they will continue to work and live in the shadows, like so many other immigrants have in the United States.