A new two-part feature documentary from ProPublica and FRONTLINE delves into the harrowing experiences of Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S., shedding light on the immense uncertainty clouding their futures as they navigate rapidly shifting immigration policies under the current Trump administration.
The films, which began airing this week on air and online, come at a time when hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. — initially granted temporary status in the U.S.. under the Biden administration after having fled their country’s political and economic turmoil —
now find their legal residency in jeopardy following President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
In the last few months alone, more than 500,000 Venezuelans living legally in the U.S. have lost their residency status.
In the documentary, “Status: Venezuelan,” the filmmaker follows a family in Doral — home to the largest Venezuelan diaspora in the U.S. — as they struggle to remain united and legal amidst the policy turbulence.
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Award-winning visual journalist and filmmaker Mauricio Rodríguez Pons chronicles the life of Yineska, a Venezuelan mother, and her family whose hopes "rise and fall with the changes to their immigration status and their efforts to find ways to avoid deportation."
Yineska voiced the deep fear and anxiety shared by many Venezuelans.
“How do you start from scratch with a situation like this?” she asked. “We are afraid of what might happen there when we arrive.”
To Rodríguez Pons, Yineska’s struggle echoes his own. She and her family “represent the many Venezuelans who’ve come to the U.S. seeking safety and opportunity — and, in many ways, [his] own immigration story.”
The second part of the documentary feature, “Surviving CECOT,” tells the story of three Venezuelan men — Juan José Ramos Ramos, Andry Blanco Bonilla, and Wilmer Vega Sandia — who were deported in February to CECOT, a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Trump administration officials sent more than 230 men to the facility, all branded by the U.S. government as members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
However, all three men profiled said they had “no connection to Tren de Aragua and were not gang members.” ProPublica obtained U.S. government data showing that none of them had been flagged as having a criminal conviction or pending charges.
Both stories are part of ProPublica and FRONTLINE’s ongoing collaborative reporting on the impact of the Trump administration’s immigration policy changes, which will also include text stories and a long-form documentary set to air in 2026.
The two-part documentary is available to watch on ProPublica’s YouTube channels, pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App and on the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel.
