A month after two devastating earthquakes decimated Northern Venezuela, Venezuelan Temporary Protected Status holders and the National TPS Alliance demanded the reinstatement by the Trump administration.
At the Aloft Hotel in Doral, Venezuelan nationals, immigrant rights advocates and local union organizers filled a press conference where the Alliance outlined the necessity for TPS and pushed for a more permanent path to citizenship for Venezuelans.
The twin earthquakes — of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude — killed over 5,000 and injured tens of thousands, according to Venezuelan officials. A month after the tragedy, thousands more are still unaccounted for.
The TPS designation for the country ended in October 2025, and after a Supreme Court ruling on the morning of the earthquakes, the entire TPS program is in jeopardy, legal experts say.
“ To the United States government we say: this is not the moment to deport, it’s the moment to protect,” said TPS Alliance national coordinator Arnoldo Diaz. “The redesignation of TPS for Venezuela is not a favor, but a humanitarian obligation.”
Angel Alvarez, an immigration attorney and Venezuelan national, argues that TPS exists for exactly this kind of tragedy.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a country for TPS when an earthquake or other environmental disaster causes a substantial but temporary disruption of living conditions and the country is temporarily unable to handle the safe return of its nationals,” Alvarez said. “TPS expressly anticipates precisely this kind of emergency.”
READ MORE: Earthquake aid keeps flowing from Florida to Venezuela, as volunteers unite to help recovery
The Alliance amassed 133,000 letters petitioning for the cause on that exact basis. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, will deliver those letters to Sec. of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Diaz said.
On Tuesday, U.S. Reps. Wasserman Schultz and Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Miami, spearheaded a discharge petition for the American Dream and Promise Act alongside other House members to open more pathways for TPS holders to gain permanent citizenship. Members of the Alliance implored Floridians to call their representatives to support the bill.
“1.3 million people are in agony day to day over the possible separation of their families. With this petition, we are saying that our lives are not temporary,” said Diaz.
Sedna Mercado, a 22-year-old Venezuelan national and TPS holder living in Orlando, brought up her rising concern about undocumented students accessing education in Florida. She shared the story of her migration from Venezuela as a young teen, of her family walking across the Colombian border as they traveled to the U.S.
She says that because of her TPS, she was able to graduate high school and attend college. As the state moves to ban undocumented students from higher education, the reinstatement of TPS and more paths towards permanent citizenship are more important than ever before, she says.
My first proof of residency here in the United States was my library card, and that allowed me to finally be able to study. TPS was a program that allowed me to have a permanent status to go to college,” said Mercado. “I am a political science student, and I know that if I were to return to my country, I would face political persecution for my views.”
