President Donald Trump’s administration is set to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan nationals living in the United States.
The Department of Homeland Security asserted in an unpublished Sunday memorandum that “Venezuela no longer continues to meet the conditions” for the program, which is intended to provide refuge for individuals fleeing perilous conditions.
The decision will likely force the approximately 350,000 Venezuelans residing in the U.S. under the program to return to their home country after the protections are terminated.
Permitting covered Venezuelan nationals to remain temporarily in the U.S. is “contrary to the national interest,” according to the leaked document.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a Sunday appearance on Meet the Press that “the TPS program has been abused and it doesn’t have integrity right now,” asserting that even members of the Tren de Aragua gang have exploited the system.
Venezuelan nationals who enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program in 2023 will have approximately 60 days from the notice of termination to return to their home country — likely ending in April.
Approximately 250,000 Venezuelans who were brought into the Temporary Protection Status program under a previous 2021 designation will likely maintain their eligibility at least through September.
Trump has made the repatriation of South American migrants, both legal and illegal, a flagship project of his second administration, negotiating with world leaders for the expedited return of foreign nationals.
The president laid the groundwork for the mass exodus last week by sending special envoy Richard Grenell to Venezuela to work out the logistics in conversation with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas.
Maduro, who has not been recognized by the U.S. government as a legitimate president due to widespread irregularities in his election last year, agreed to release six American detainees and facilitate the Trump administration’s deportation program.
“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 posted Saturday on Truth Social following the meeting. “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.”
Temporary Protected Status is intended to allow foreign nationals to live and work in the U.S. for up to 18 months due to treacherous conditions in their countries of origin, such as armed conflict or persecution.
Biden extended this coverage to the fall of 2026, but the Department of Homeland Security’s orders will overturn this decision.
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Trump and his allies campaigned on tightening the program in 2024, alleging that the process was being exploited by people who did not have a legitimate claim to refuge or who were treating the designation as a permanent arrangement.
“What Donald Trump has proposed doing is we’re going to stop doing mass parole,” then-vice-presidential candidate JD Vance said at an October 2024 rally in Peoria, Arizona. “We’re going to stop doing mass grants of Temporary Protected Status. Of course, you’re going to have people fleeing from tyranny, but that happens on a case-by-case basis, not by waving the magic government wand.”