Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said on Thursday that she was “devastated and infuriated” over President Trump’s plans to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 1 million immigrants from multiple countries.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, said these immigrants are seeking refuge from political violence, war, natural disasters, and extreme weather events due to the impacts of climate change.
“I am devastated and infuriated to hear of the Trump administration’s plans to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 1 million immigrants from over 17 countries, including Haiti and Venezuela,” Clarke, also the new chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, told Caribbean Life.
“To deport individuals and their families back to countries facing escalating violence, war-torn conditions, and political unrest is cruel and inhumane,” she added. “Make no mistake: President Trump has essentially issued a death sentence to many immigrants whose safety was promised under these protections.”
In the face of global migration growing into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis over recent years, the congresswoman noted that TPS has persisted since 1990 as “a necessary tool to safeguard our world’s most vulnerable peoples and to provide them with opportunities to pursue employment and build the lives they deserve.
“It is a legal method of extending the United States’ humanitarian efforts towards those most in need of them,” Clarke said. “Unfortunately, and tragically, this administration has decided to weaponize and undercut TPS’s true purpose to further its despicable anti-immigrant agenda. And that is shameful beyond words.”
On Wednesday, the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, warned that Venezuelan nationals in New York are at risk of deportation in the wake of Trump’s revocation of TPS for Venezuela.
“Trump’s revocation of TPS for Venezuela is a cruel escalation of his mass deportation agenda, prioritizing enforcement over humanitarian solutions,” Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s president and chief executive officer, told Caribbean Life.
“The devastating decision will have consequences for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have built their lives in the United States, including those who call New York home,” he added. “Families will now face the reality of uprooting their lives they worked so hard to build here and returning to a country that’s still grappling with the political and economic turmoil they escaped.
“The Trump administration should be protecting – not punishing – people who have sought safety from crisis and instability and who have been contributing to New York’s economy,” continued Awawdeh, urging the New York Congressional Delegation to “act now to provide permanent protections for all TPS holders who face the threat of forced removal under inhumane policies.”
Earlier this week, the United States Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, announced that the Trump administration will revoke the TPS designation for Venezuela, leaving hundreds of thousands at risk of deportation and without work permits.
Awawdeh said the temporary humanitarian program protected about 350,000 Venezuelans who sought refuge in the United States over the past few years due to political and economic turmoil in their home country.
Awawdeh said this revocation only impacts Venezuelans who received TPS on Oct. 3, 2023.
“These individuals will lose status and work authorization at 11:59 PM local time on April 7, 2025,” he said. “However, this termination does not apply to Venezuelan nationals who applied for and received TPS under the 2021 designation, which will remain in effect until Sept. 10, 2025.”
The San Diego, CA-based Haitian Bridge Alliance has also strongly condemned the Trump administration’s termination of TPS for about 600,000 Venezuelans residing in the United States.
“This action, announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, not only jeopardizes the safety and well-being of countless individuals but also contradicts America’s global commitment to human rights and humanitarian principles,” Haitian Bridge Alliance Executive Director Guerline Josef told Caribbean Life.
In pointing to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she said more than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country in search of protection and a better life, “making it one of the largest displacement crises in the world.”
Josef said the majority—over 6.5 million people—have been hosted in Latin American and Caribbean countries.
“Within Venezuela, the situation remains dire,” she said, stating that an estimated 7.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, “struggling to access adequate healthcare, nutrition, and essential services.
“The termination of TPS ignores these harsh realities, effectively condemning thousands to return to life-threatening conditions,” Josef added. “This decision is emblematic of the administration’s broader xenophobic agenda, which seeks to marginalize immigrant communities and dismantle systems of protection for the most vulnerable.
“It perpetuates a narrative that devalues the lives of those seeking safety and undermines the rich diversity that strengthens our nation,” she continued. “Such actions serve only to sow division and perpetuate systemic injustices against marginalized populations.”
