The Trump administration has removed deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States, officials said late Tuesday.
The new Department of Homeland Security order reverses the Biden administration's 18-month Temporary Protected Status extension for Venezuelans. TPS is a status available to people from war-torn, natural disaster-struck, or otherwise dangerous countries, allowing them to live and work in the U.S. while their home countries are unsafe.
They would now lose their ability to live and work in the country legally as early as April. In most cases, that would mean becoming undocumented and facing possible deportation.
In a prior interview, a TPS beneficiary living in Charlotte told WFAE what it would mean if the program were revoked for Venezuelans.
“It will mean I will say goodbye to the community I have built here," they said. "I have been here almost 10 years."
More than 500,000 Venezuelans on TPS live in the United States, and over 16,000 TPS beneficiaries from various countries live in North Carolina.
