Then-Miami Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins holds a press conference on Dec. 10. Miami is home to many Venezuelan expats.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins is calling for the Trump administration to reinstate temporary protected status, also known as TPS, for Venezuelans after the U.S. military operation capturing the country’s president.
Higgins on Saturday said the Trump administration ending TPS for Venezuelans in early 2025 was “reckless, dangerous, and wrong.” She also called for President Trump to “immediately” reinstate TPS for Venezuelans.
Miami has a large population of Venezuelan expats. Higgins was sworn in as mayor last month, becoming the first Democrat to lead the city in about three decades.
“The instability unfolding in Venezuela today makes it even clearer that the country remains unsafe for people to return. No one should be forced back into chaos and uncertainty,” Higgins wrote in a statement. “They have built lives here, contributed to our community, and deserve the security to remain while their homeland regains stability. This is not just a matter of policy — it is a matter of basic human dignity and safety.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in May allowed the Trump administration to temporarily strip legal protections from more than 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S. under TPS, which protects against deportations and provides work permits to people impacted by war, natural disasters and other circumstances.
In October, the high court granted the administration’s request to halt a lower court order that blocked the end of TPS protections for Venezuelans — allowing the administration to move forward with ending the TPS designation for the country.
Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem on Sunday, when asked about Higgins’ statement, defended the administration ending the program, saying that decisions are made in collaboration with the State Department and White House.
“Every individual that was under TPS has the opportunity to apply for refugee status and that evaluation will go forward, but we need to make sure that our programs actually mean something and that we are following the law,” Noem said during an interview with Fox News.
The Department of Homeland Security also said in a social media post later on Sunday: “Secretary Noem ended Temporary Protected Status for more than 500,000 Venezuelans and now they can go home to a country that they love.”
At least 7.9 million people have fled Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.