More than 770,000 Venezuelans living in the United States greeted the Trump administration’s reported removal of President Nicolás Maduro this week with a mix of celebration and apprehension. In interviews from New York City to Utah to Florida, Venezuelan migrants described feelings that, as Miami advocate Alejandra Salima put it, “seesaw between joy and trepidation.” Maduro’s ouster is “a first step, but we’re nervous,” said Salima, who fled Venezuela three years ago with her son and works at the Miami office of the National TPS Alliance.
The same administration that removed Maduro has also revoked Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the United States and is moving to deport those without permanent residency — a contradiction that many in the community say they are still trying to reconcile.
Little sign of a rush to return
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pushed back on the notion of widespread unease. “Overwhelmingly the Venezuelans that I’ve heard from or talked to are excited about the changes,” Noem said last week. “They 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,” she said.
But interviews with Venezuelans living in communities around the United States showed little indication of a rush to return home.
Manuel Coronel, a 54-year-old lawyer who left Venezuela in 2017 and now lives north of Salt Lake City, where he works at an immigration law practice, said his initial reaction was one of elation. “First, they grabbed Maduro, and I feel happy, happy, happy, grateful to the Trump administration,” Coronel said. But he added that the political situation on the ground remained deeply uncertain. “They got him, but the criminals are still there,” he said. “There’s no new government. Everything’s exactly the same.”
José Luis Rojas, 31, who settled in New York City after fleeing the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in 2018, described a similar ambivalence. Rojas recounted how Venezuela’s hyperinflation, which the Associated Press reported topped 1 million percent the year he fled, made it impossible to buy essentials after his partner became pregnant. The couple traveled first to Ecuador and then Peru before crossing the Darién Gap on foot into the United States, where Rojas has since obtained political asylum, a work permit, and a driver’s license.
He welcomed the toppling of Maduro “so there can be change in Venezuela, because many people are struggling.” But the Trump administration’s tightened policies have already pushed a number of his friends to leave for countries in South America, he said. For Venezuelans in the United States, Trump has “done good things and he’s done bad things,” Rojas said. “It all depends on your point of view.”
New lives, uncertain futures
About 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country over the past decade, according to the Associated Press, with the great majority settling elsewhere in Latin America. Hundreds of thousands have made their way to the United States, with large numbers in suburban communities such as Kissimmee, Florida, and Herriman, Utah. The Biden administration offered new or expanded temporary legal protections that Trump revoked after taking office.
For Jesus Martinez, 50, who fled to the United States in 2021 after facing physical threats and persecution and now lives in Orem, Utah, with his wife and children while his political asylum application is pending, the moment carries unavoidable tension. “It’s obviously a contradictory situation,” Martinez said. He noted that rooting out Maduro’s loyalists and establishing a stable democracy would take considerable time, making a return premature.
Salima, who was active in opposition politics before leaving and came to the United States legally on a humanitarian permit that Trump has since revoked, said her mother remains in Venezuela. Even with Maduro gone, her mother refuses to discuss politics during encrypted-app calls, fearful that government authorities who remain in power will find out, Salima said. The pending end of Temporary Protected Status makes her feel “very unstable,” she said. With Maduro’s allies still in place, “at this moment, returning would put me and my son at risk,” Salima said.
Asking for a choice
Jorge Galicia, 30, rallied with other Venezuelans this week in Doral, Florida, to celebrate Maduro’s ouster. Galicia said he joined Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA movement after settling in the Miami area, drawn by its alignment with Trump. But his support for the administration began to waver as immigration enforcement intensified and families were separated, he said.
Now, with Maduro gone, Galicia said he expects many Venezuelans who fled to neighboring countries and the United States to eventually return home. But he hopes the Trump administration will reconsider deportations for Venezuelans who have built new lives in the United States without yet obtaining permanent status. “The reason we’re here is because there was a horrible regime that forced millions of us to leave,” said Galicia, wrapped in a Venezuelan flag. “Everyone deserves to have the choice of returning home.”