US Strips Hundreds of Thousands from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela of Migratory Status
Mexico City, Mexico, June 13, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked the status and work permits of over 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who had entered the country legally, marking the latest move in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
DHS began sending notices to beneficiaries of a “parole” program that their permission to remain in the US had been rescinded and they should leave the country immediately.
Given the ongoing crackdown on migrants in the US, President Nicolás Maduro appealed to Venezuelan migrants abroad to return to their homeland.
“Now we see how they’re beaten, tortured, and denied their most basic rights. To those brothers and sisters, I say: Enough, come home!” declared Maduro during an event in Lara state.
The parole program implemented by the previous Joe Biden administration allowed migrants to live and work in the US provided they had a US-based sponsor. The program was designed to ease the pressure on the US’ southern border that had seen an increased flow of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
On his first day in office Trump suspended the program via executive order, which was then subject to a legal battle and temporarily blocked. A Supreme Court ruling in late May eventually overruled the lower courts and allowed the Trump White House to suspend the program and revoke temporary legal status for former beneficiaries.
The decision to rescind status for 500,000 people is the latest move by an administration deadset on expelling as many migrants as possible, with many of the measures impacting Venezuelans in particular.
Since coming to office, Trump ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 350,000 Venezuelans living in the US, implemented a partial visa ban for all Venezuelans, and in March, 252 Venezuelan men were sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega prison using an 18th-century act, after being profiled as gang members. The Trump administration has failed to show any real evidence to back these accusations.
“Compatriots around the world: let’s not wait for crumbs from others. Here we have land, people, and a future. We will overcome obstacles with work, production, and revolutionary love,” said the Venezuelan president.
Caracas has engaged in legal efforts before Salvadoran authorities to secure the release of its nationals. A group of relatives traveled to the Central American country this week to try and visit the detained Venezuelans and appeal for their liberation.
The Trump administration’s zeal to arrest upwards of 3,000 people a day has created a domestic crisis for the White House as it cracks down on community resistance to its mass deportation agenda.
Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.