Republicans have been working hard with American voters in Venezuela, Florida in recent years. They were convinced that their party could beat the rapidly growing group with a focus on law and order and attacks on socialism. Their efforts paid off in cities like Doral west of Miami. There, about 40% of the population have Venezuelan origins.
Many Venezuelan Americans were attracted attention and were dedicated to the politicians who gave them it, especially to the President Trump.
Their praise has been mixed with surprise and scars in recent weeks, but South Florida has come to an end to Temporary Protection State (TPS) for more than 300,000 Venezuelan immigrants in the US Many of them. The TPS program allows immigrants from certain unstable countries to live and work in the United States for a limited time. Critics say they have allowed many immigrants to stay indefinitely.
Now, Doral and subsequent Venezuelan Americans are trying to convince the White House to change courses before 300,000 immigrants lose their TPS in April. Their campaign is testing how much political currency they have with Trump and other Republicans who treated them as the main population.
Channeling concerns from their members, elected leaders from at least three municipalities (Miami-Dade County, Miami and Doral) have passed iconic measures in recent weeks. .
So far, the Venezuelans who voted for Trump have abandoned him. Instead, they walk down the thin line in favour of fighting illegal immigrants, but they argue that most Venezuelans with TPS should not be caught up in it. Trump has debated programs like TPS on the campaign trail, but many Venezuelan American voters say they hope to focus on fraudulent immigrants with criminal history.
Things don't feel more urgent than Doral, a city of about 75,000 called Doral.
Once a Way Outwarehouse district, located west of Miami International Airport, the city has evolved into an economic powerhouse for the past decade or so. Office parks were born, leading to the development of plots, condominiums, schools and restaurants.
Trump knows Doral well. It is home to his Trump National Doral Golf Club and is a point of pride for many Venezuelan Americans. However, in an interview last week, some of them felt blinded.
In particular, they say the Trump administration's proposal that many Venezuelans with TP are members of the Tren de Aragua gangsters surprised them.
“I'm a stubborn Trump Republican, but I feel fraudulent,” said Isabelle Martin, a real estate agent and insurance broker who also holds Spanish radio shows in Doral. “Some bad people came in, but they're not all Tren de Aragua. There are very good people like you and me, hardworking people.”
Martin, 58, who moved 27 years ago, said she still supports Trump, but had conflicting feelings that she didn't know how to resolve it. Last week, she was in attendance when Doral City Council passed a measure called on the federal government for a permanent immigration solution for Venezuelans.
Martin said the council could lose both employers and workers if Venezuelan immigrants owned or worked for small businesses lose their protected status. He told members of the group.
Councillor Rafael Piniro, a Republican who introduced the resolution, sought to oppose the decision to end the TPS without opposing the White House.
“It's not about to create a conflict with President Trump,” Pinero, a Venezuelan-American who moved to Miami at the age of 15, told the meeting.
Rather, he said, “I want to explain to the administration what the real community in Venezuela is.”
Another councillor is married to a Venezuelan. The third one moved from the Dominican Republic. The mayor is Cuban-American. Deputy Mayor Maureen Polas is an immigration lawyer from Nicaragua to Miami at the age of seven.
In an interview, Polas said in recent weeks that insecurity Venezuelans had instilled questions about their options into her legal practice. She worries that essential workers may disappear from Doral's restaurants and hotel jobs.
“My fear is that when I start seeing my neighbors move away, it disrupts the economy and transforms the community,” she said. “It's going to be very destructive.”
At a public meeting Thursday, Amaya Arijitoy, a Venezuelan-American who lived in South Florida for 25 years, told the Miami City Commission about her nephew. University of Florida.
“He worked under TPS,” she said. “He was paying taxes, and now he is forced to return to a country with no future, and is also a country under a dictatorship.”
Venezuelan Americans were shaking when Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem justified his decision to end the TPS by saying things had improved in Venezuela. They also bristled last month when Venezuelans in “Fox and Friends” said they would “violate our law for another 18 months” when they said that if they were allowed to stay on TPS, the majority were criminals. suggested.
Elected Republican officials in Florida recognize that Venezuelan Americans represent an increase in voice and voice. Senator Rick Scott said the Venezuelan government continues to pose a threat to the United States. Three Cuban-American members of Miami's state legislative delegation wrote Noem urging them to decide whether Venezuelans could stay here on a case-by-case basis.
Influential Cuban exiles in Miami, in particular, consider them ideologically assembled as they embraced the newly arrived Venezuelans and both groups fled from left-wing leaders. For a long time, Cubans have benefited from special immigration privileges such as the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows the United States to apply for permanent residency at least a year later. Such benefits are not available to Venezuelans or other nationalities, as proposed by a Republican lawmaker from Miami.
The decision to end the TPS will only affect Venezuelans who were protected in 2023. Just before Trump took office in January, the Biden administration extended its temporary legal status until October 2026. Noem has revoked the expansion.
Another group of over 250,000 Venezuelans received the TP in 2021. Their protected status should end in September, and the Trump administration has not announced plans to cut it off earlier than ever before.
“In sending Venezuelans back into nightmares, especially in Florida, in particular, in Florida, woman on the Venezuelans and Democratic state committee, Maria Colina Vegas, a press conference outside Miami City Hall last week, told a news conference outside of Miami City Hall. “It's embarrassing all Republican officials who do it.” “You're turning your back on a community that trusts you. It has fled from tyranny in search of freedom. You will be remembered for this betrayal.”
Even as Venezuelan Americans expressed disappointment last week, state lawmakers have approved the illegal immigration enforcement crackdown law. When Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was recently asked whether he supported the end of the TPS for Venezuelans, he said, “The people who voted for me are not American citizens.” Ta.
He admitted that the situation in Venezuela was “still bad,” but former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was charged with “abusing” TPS, and Trump said he “has got the law right.” .
“He's going to control who's in this country,” DeSantis added. “You can't have a situation where people are just focused on their will.”
Gustavo Gallagory, president of Venezuelan-American Republican club Miami-Dade, said his support for Trump remains unshakable. People like him, who moved over 20 years ago, are not affected by ending their protection.
“President Trump is an American president,” he said. “I'm not a Venezuelan president.”
Alain Delacheriere Contributed research.
