Trump's border czar says Venezuela deportations will start in 30 days. Who's at risk?

Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald on Feb 7, 2025

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President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says deportations to Venezuela will begin in the next 30 days.

The announcement comes at the heels of Trump saying last week that the South American country has agreed to take deportees back and to supply their transportation. His Department of Homeland Security also ended a parole process for nationals of Venezuela and three other countries that allows them to live and work in the U.S. as long as they had a financial sponsor and passed health and background checks; and ended Temporary Protected Status for nearly 350,000 Venezuelans, which means that they will no longer have deportation protections and work permits under the federal program come April.

The flurry of Venezuela-related policies flowing out of Washington since Trump returned to the White House has generated fear and anxiety in South Florida, the heart of the Venezuelan community in the United States. But who is at most at risk of being deported to Venezuela?

John de la Vega, a Miami-based immigration attorney, told the Miami Herald that according to the federal government’s deportation priorities, those most at risk of repatriation are people considered dangers to national security, threats to community safety such as people with criminal backgrounds, and those with final orders of deportation.

There are over 22,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. with final deportation orders, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data. These will be likely the first groups immigration authorities will focus on, de la Vega said.

However, if immigration agents are seeking a migrant and run into another undocumented person during that enforcement action, that undocumented person could be put in custody and have deportation proceedings initiated against them, even if they aren’t a deportation priority for the federal government.

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