Venezuela Loses TPS Designation
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Confirmed by the U.S. Senate last weekend, former South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem is the nation’s new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She has been a busy bee, yesterday accompanying officers in an early morning immigration operation in New York.
LEXIS NEXIS Immigration has the scoop on how Secretary Noem made immigration news:
“On Jan. 28, 2025, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem vacated the Jan. 17, 2025, notice that extended a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Venezuela. The Department will revert to the TPS redesignation and extension guidance that was announced in October 2023.”
NYT news coverage here. (Gift PDF, not paywalled.)
The TPS designation decision provoked responses.
“We are talking about thousands of people who are currently contributing and working legally. Secretary Noem should extend protections for Venezuelans and provide certainty for American communities and American businesses,” said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.
“We strongly encourage the administration to consider protecting once again this key population while also working to improve conditions in Venezuela.”
Statement from Kerri Talbot, Co-Executive Director of the Immigration Hub:
“Donald Trump is threatening to tear 600,000 people from their jobs, families, and communities—forcing them into the shadows or out of the country entirely. He promised targeted enforcement, but his deportation machine is sweeping up U.S. citizens, children, and military veterans. Now, he’s coming for those who followed the legal process, were vetted, and built their lives here—only to have their futures erased in an instant.
This isn’t policy—it’s chaos. Families who have called this country home for years will be uprooted overnight, parents torn from their children, and entire communities thrown into turmoil. Meanwhile, key industries like construction, restaurants, and healthcare will be thrown into crisis as businesses lose essential workers, driving up costs for working families already struggling to make ends meet. Yet, Trump and his allies continue to push even further, refining their aim at birthright citizenship and enacting the unconstitutional Laken Riley Act, fueling racial profiling and mass detention. The message is clear: no immigrant is safe.
Lawmakers must act now to stop this assault on immigrant families and hold Trump accountable for the devastation he is inflicting—not just on immigrants, but on the country as a whole. Protecting immigrants isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s essential to preserving our democracy and basic human dignity.”