ORLANDO, Fla. – In the wake of the United States’ ouster of the now former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump’s administration officials have suggested it is safe for Venezuelans living in exile to return to their home country.
“The great news for those who are here from Venezuela on Temporary Protected Status is that they can now go home with hope for their country,” Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, told Fox News after the military operation in Venezuela.
[WATCH: Maduro says ‘I was captured’ as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges]
Trump revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) last year for more than half a million Venezuelans in the United States, citing improved conditions in Venezuela.
“With that status, I was allowed to work and had the option to go back to study,” Marcelo Ferrer told News 6 Friday.
Ferrer, who graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2023, said he and his family left Venezuela in 2018.
“We would have blackouts in the middle of our classes, which means no lights, no AC, none of that,” Ferrer said, describing his educational experience in Venezuela.
Ferrer said he is relieved that Maduro is no longer in power, but he is skeptical of the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s vice president.
“I will be grateful if [Trump] removes Maduro and the rest of the regime,” Ferrer said. “They’re still part of Venezuela.”
[WATCH: Venezuelans see hope in Maduro’s ouster]
Like Ferrer, Giovanny Hernandez also believes it is not yet safe to return to Venezuela, despite Maduro’s departure.
“It’s not free,” Hernandez argued.
The 21-year-old UCF junior was granted TPS from 2021 to 2025. He is now in the process of applying for political asylum.
Both Ferrer and Hernandez expressed gratitude for the United States’ role in removing Maduro, but they cited the uncertainty about the country’s future in arguing that Trump should restore TPS to those who had the status removed.
“We follow everything,” Ferrer said in a direct plea to Trump. “We work and we study, and we will ask you that you give us something that we lost. And that is the Temporary Protected Status.”
News 6 reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security on Friday.
In an email to the White House, News 6 asked about the potential restoration of TPS for Venezuelans, as well as the cadence of deportations of Venezuelans back to their home country.
A White House spokesperson did not comment on questions regarding TPS, but did refer to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s previous comments that the administration’s deportation policies “have not changed.”
News 6 did not receive a response from DHS at the time of publication Friday.