The Trump administration will begin deporting undocumented Venezuelans back to their home country in a few weeks, marking the latest step in the federal government’s mass deportation efforts.

Trump border czar Tom Homan told the New York Times that direct deportation flights to Venezuela, which have been paused for a year because of diplomatic tensions with the United States, are “going to happen within the next 30 days.”

Last week, President Donald Trump announced on the social media platform Truth Social that the Nicolás Maduro government had agreed to take back Venezuelan deportees, including criminals and gang members. Trump said the Venezuelan government would also supply the transportation. However, no timeline on when the direct repatriation flights to the South American country would resume had been set.

The announcement of the resumption of deportation flights arrives in the midst of a flurry of policy announcements the federal government has made that affects Venezuelan migrants in the United States. On his first day in office, Trump ended a parole process for nationals from Venezuela and three other countries that allows them to temporarily live and work in the United States as long as they had a financial sponsor and passed health and background checks.

He also ended Temporary Protected Status, a federal program that temporarily grants deportation protections and work permits to people from countries in turmoil, to nearly 350,000 Venezuelans already in the United States. With nearly 300,000 beneficiaries, Florida is the state with the largest population of TPS holders. Almost 60% of them are Venezuelan. The government argued that while conditions in the country remained similar, there had been improvements in health, economy, and public safety, and that TPS for Venezuela is not in the national interest of the United States.

The announcement of coming deportations has created uncertainty and fear in South Florida, the heart of the Venezuelan community in the United States. For leaders in the Venezuelan community, Homan’s announcement to begin deportations in the next month is seen as clear evidence of an ongoing dialogue between the Trump administration and the Maduro regime. The move fuels concerns that the deportation process is politically motivated, targeting Venezuelans while ignoring the worsening conditions in the country.

Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, said that everything that Homeland Security is doing regarding the termination of TPS for Venezuelans, the visit by Trump special envoy Richard Grenell to Venezuela last month and the claim that the South American country has seen “improvements in economy, public health, and crime,” is making her countrymen “collateral damage.

“The Trump administration doesn’t care what happens to Venezuelans once they return to Venezuela, whether they will be imprisoned or stigmatized,” Ferro said.

She questioned which Venezuelans will be deported, especially after the recent Homeland Security announcement that several Venezuelans, allegedly linked to the feared gang Tren de Aragua , have been sent to a migrant holding camp at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“Are they targeting Venezuelans who have committed no crimes, or those detained in ICE facilities, or even TPS beneficiaries who fail to secure other immigration benefits before the deadline?” Ferro said.

South Florida Venezuelan immigration advocates say the termination of TPS for the Venezuelan community could be challenged in court, calling the move “political persecution” by the Trump administration.

A Venezuelan-American citizen who has lived in the U.S. for nearly a decade expressed outrage over the agreement between the Trump administration and Maduro.

“The Trump administration sacrificed the well-being of the Venezuelan people for oil interests,” said B. Diaz, a U.S. citizen who requested that her full name not be used for fear that seven of her family members, all TPS beneficiaries, could lose their deportation protection in April.

Diaz fears the Venezuelans who are deported will be persecuted after their return to their country, where they will face myriad hardships.

A monthly salary in Venezuela is less than $40, making it impossible for many people to afford even basic groceries.

“Venezuelans have rights, and it’s not fair what they’re doing to our community,” Diaz said. “Everyone in the U.S. came from immigrants, except for Native Americans. Now, we’re being made the scapegoat. They’ve labeled us as criminals, as though we’re coming from mental institutions.”

Diaz is worried that her two daughters and five grandchildren could face deportation if they aren’t able to obtain an alternative legal status when TPS ends in April.

“My family fears for their lives and what could happen if they are sent back to Venezuela.”

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