{"id":112640,"date":"2026-01-10T02:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/112640\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T02:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T02:49:11","slug":"its-not-free-venezuelans-in-central-florida-living-in-limbo-as-they-watch-situation-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/112640\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s not free:\u2019 Venezuelans in Central Florida living in limbo as they watch situation at home"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 In the wake of the United States\u2019 ouster of the now former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro<\/a>, President Donald Trump\u2019s administration officials have suggested it is safe for Venezuelans living in exile to return to their home country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, told Fox News after the military operation in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

[WATCH: Maduro says \u2018I was captured\u2019 as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges]<\/p>\n

Trump revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) last year for more than half a million Venezuelans in the United States, citing improved conditions in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that status, I was allowed to work and had the option to go back to study,\u201d Marcelo Ferrer told News 6 Friday.<\/p>\n

Ferrer, who graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2023, said he and his family left Venezuela in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have blackouts in the middle of our classes, which means no lights, no AC, none of that,\u201d Ferrer said, describing his educational experience in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s vice president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be grateful if [Trump] removes Maduro and the rest of the regime,\u201d Ferrer said. \u201cThey\u2019re still part of Venezuela.\u201d<\/p>\n

[WATCH: Venezuelans see hope in Maduro\u2019s ouster]<\/p>\n

Like Ferrer, Giovanny Hernandez also believes it is not yet safe to return to Venezuela, despite Maduro\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not free,\u201d Hernandez argued.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old UCF junior was granted TPS from 2021 to 2025. He is now in the process of applying for political asylum.<\/p>\n

Both Ferrer and Hernandez expressed gratitude for the United States\u2019 role in removing Maduro, but they cited the uncertainty about the country\u2019s future in arguing that Trump should restore TPS to those who had the status removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe follow everything,\u201d Ferrer said in a direct plea to Trump. \u201cWe work and we study, and we will ask you that you give us something that we lost. And that is the Temporary Protected Status.\u201d<\/p>\n

News 6 reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security on Friday.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A White House spokesperson did not comment on questions regarding TPS, but did refer to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt\u2019s previous comments that the administration\u2019s deportation policies \u201chave not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

News 6 did not receive a response from DHS at the time of publication Friday.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 In the wake of the United States\u2019 ouster of the now former Venezuelan president Nicolas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6801,28,30,29,1841,99,4390],"class_list":["post-112640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-asylum","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-immigration","tag-politics","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}