Venezuelans in the United States expressed mixed reactions in the days after the Trump administration ousted President Nicolás Maduro in a late-night military raid, with some celebrating the removal while others worried about what comes next for their families and for their own immigration status.
Alejandra Salima, an advocate who assists Venezuelans at the Miami office of the National TPS Alliance, said the change is “a first step, but we’re nervous.” Salima, who fled to the U.S. three years ago with her 7-year-old son, said returning to Venezuela while the government Maduro led is still in place would put her and her son at risk.
For more than 770,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S., the reactions have reflected those competing feelings, the Associated Press reported. Many people said they were thrilled by Maduro’s ouster, pointing to a record that included harassment and jailing of political opponents and an economic collapse that drove millions to flee.
But others said they see the political change as incomplete, particularly as they confront steps the Trump administration has taken affecting Venezuelans who do not have permanent status. The AP report said the Trump administration’s move to deport Venezuelans without permanent residency has increased anxiety among migrants, including those who had been allowed to remain in the U.S. after being granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, a designation Trump revoked after taking office.
Manuel Coronel, a lawyer who left Venezuela in 2017 and now lives just north of Salt Lake City, described the emotions as uneven. He said, “First, they grabbed Maduro, and I feel happy, happy, happy, grateful to the Trump administration,” but he added, “They got him, but the criminals are still there.” Coronel also said, “There’s no new government. Everything’s exactly the same.”
The tensions in the migrant accounts contrasted with comments by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who said the administration’s outreach had found broad excitement about the changes. Noem asserted that “overwhelmingly the Venezuelans that I’ve heard from or talked to are excited about the changes,” and added that Venezuelans would have “more opportunities to go back to their country and have it be more successful and provide for their families today than they did a week ago when Maduro was still in charge.”
In interviews with Venezuelans living in communities around the U.S., the AP report found little indication of a rush to return. José Luis Rojas, who ended up in New York City after fleeing Caracas in 2018, said, “Thank God we’re here,” and described how hyperinflation in Venezuela, which topped 1 million percent the year he fled, made it impossible to buy essentials such as diapers after his partner became pregnant.
Rojas said he and his family first went to Ecuador and then Peru before leaving to escape crime, joining thousands of Venezuelans who migrated on foot through Panama’s Darién Gap. After arriving in the U.S., he said he obtained political asylum, a work permit and a driver’s license. Speaking during a recent interview at a Venezuelan restaurant in New York City, Rojas welcomed Maduro’s ouster “so there can be change in Venezuela, because many people are struggling,” while also expressing doubt about tighter Trump administration policies that he said have already pushed some friends to leave for countries in South America and elsewhere.
Other migrants described the removal of Maduro as only one part of a broader legal and political uncertainty. Jesus Martinez, who now lives in Orem, Utah, said “life in Venezuela is behind us” after fleeing physical threats and persecution, and he said he has applied for political asylum. Martinez said the situation feels “obviously a contradictory situation,” noting it could take time before Maduro loyalists are rooted out and Venezuela can transition to a stable democracy.
For Salima, the uncertainty is tied to the future of TPS and to the possibility of government pressure in Venezuela even after Maduro is removed. Salima said she came to the U.S. legally with her son on a temporary permit for humanitarian reasons that Trump has revoked. She also said her mother remains in Venezuela and that even with Maduro gone, she refuses to discuss politics during chats on an encrypted app, fearing government authorities who remain in power could find out what she shares. Salima said the pending end of TPS makes her feel “very unstable.”
In Doral, Florida, where Jorge Galicia rallied with other Venezuelans to celebrate Maduro’s ouster, he described how his views evolved as U.S. immigration enforcement intensified. Galicia said he fled Venezuela in 2018 after a fellow student activist was arrested during demonstrations against the regime, and he said that after settling in the Miami area he joined Turning Point USA, a conservative movement aligned with Trump. Galicia said that as the White House’s crackdown on immigrants intensified and, he said, broke up families, his support began to waver.
With Maduro gone, Galicia said he expects some Venezuelans who fled to neighboring countries and the U.S. to start returning home, but he said he wants people who built lives in the U.S. to have a choice. “The reason we’re here is because there was a horrible regime that forced millions of us to leave,” he said, adding, “everyone deserves to have the choice of returning home.”