{"id":90592,"date":"2026-01-06T01:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T01:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90592\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T01:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T01:21:16","slug":"as-president-nicolas-maduro-faces-new-york-trial-uncertainty-lingers-for-venezuelan-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/90592\/","title":{"rendered":"As President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro faces New York trial, uncertainty lingers for Venezuelan migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A woman holds a banner depicting Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Corina Machado, as people react in Miami Jan. 3, 2026, to the news that U.S. forces struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro. (OSV News photo\/Marco Bello, Reuters)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

As deposed Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro made his first appearance Jan. 5 in a New York courtroom on narco-terrorism charges after the Trump administration carried out what President Donald Trump called on social media \u201ca large scale strike against Venezuela,\u201d uncertainty about immigration status lingered for some Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Astrid Liden, communications officer for the Hope Border Institute<\/a>, a group that works to apply the perspective of Catholic social teaching in policy and practice to the U.S.-Mexico border region, and a Venezuelan-American, told OSV News, \u201cIn recent years, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have sought protection in the United States, many passing through the US-Mexico border. Millions of Venezuelans live abroad due to the situation in Venezuela, and we share their hope in the end of the reign of Maduro, whose rule led to the displacement of so many.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she added, \u201cThe recent end of TPS for Venezuelans<\/a> by the Trump administration sets a very dangerous precedent and puts hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Maduro was arraigned in a Manhattan federal court by Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Cameras are prohibited in most federal court proceedings, but according to reporters, Hellerstein said, \u201cIt\u2019s my job to assure this is a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the brief hearing, Maduro said through an interpreter that he was \u201cinnocent\u201d and \u201cstill president of my country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maduro\u2019s regime was seen as illegitimate by many countries around the world, including the European Union. Venezuela\u2019s opposition demonstrated through collecting digitized voter tallies that their candidate, Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez Urrutia, won the 2024 presidential election with 67% of the vote; but Maduro refused to cede power. The Biden administration, which recognized Gonz\u00e1lez as Venezuela\u2019s rightful president-elect, in January 2025 said Maduro \u201cclearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, world leaders also expressed concern that the U.S. military action to remove Maduro flouted international law.<\/p>\n

At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council just prior to Maduro\u2019s hearing, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was \u201cdeeply concerned that rules of international law have not been respected,\u201d while U.S. ambassador Mike Waltz called the action a \u201csurgical law enforcement operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The previous day, Pope Leo XIV<\/a> expressed \u201cdeep concern\u201d following Maduro\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis must guarantee the country\u2019s sovereignty, ensure the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution, respect the human and civil rights of all, and work to build together a serene future of collaboration, stability, and harmony, with special attention to the poorest who suffer due to the difficult economic situation,\u201d he said after reciting the Angelus prayer with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square Jan. 4.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A person reacts holding Venezuelan and U.S. flags as Venezuelan immigrants celebrate in the New York City borough of Brooklyn Jan. 3, 2026, after the United States struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, and they were brought to the Metropolitan Detention Center. (OSV News photo\/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters)<\/p>\n

At a Jan. 3 press conference, Trump said the U.S. will \u201crun the country\u201d of Venezuela \u201cuntil such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,\u201d but questions remained about that process.<\/p>\n

But the action also highlighted uncertainty for some Venezuelans in the U.S.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for about 600,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S., stripping their legal status to remain in the U.S. TPS status is sometimes granted to countries where natural disasters or civil unrest have fueled displacement.<\/p>\n

Asked during an appearance on \u201cFox News Sunday\u201d Jan. 4 whether Venezuelans in the U.S. who were previously under TPS can apply for asylum, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested they can do so, but did not directly address whether deportations to that country would continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery individual that was under TPS has the opportunity to apply for refugee status and that evaluation will go forward,\u201d Noem said, without elaborating on how those evaluations would be made.<\/p>\n

In a comment on the subject at his press conference, Trump said, \u201cFrankly, some wanna stay and some probably wanna go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catholic immigration advocates previously urged the Trump administration to leave TPS status in place for countries including Venezuela in part because of its political instability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dismantling of a corrupt autocratic regime does not occur simply through the removal of its head \u2014 we know this well,\u201d Linden said. \u201cThis protection in the United States must be maintained until voluntary and safe return truly becomes a viable option. As Pope Leo XIV has said, we must ensure that \u2018the good of the beloved Venezuelan people\u2019 \u2014 both those in the country and those abroad \u2014 remains enshrined. We must see Venezuelans, including the leaders elected in 2024, involved in a process of democratic transition for there to be a country where Venezuelans can one day return to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York City Jan. 5, 2026, as he heads towards the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse for an initial appearance to face U.S. federal charges including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering and others. (OSV News photo\/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters)<\/p>\n

J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies in New York and the former director of migration policy for the USCCB<\/a>, told OSV News, \u201cTPS should be renewed at least until a democratically-elected government is in power, so that people feel they will not face persecution upon return.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cMoreover, the remittances that would flow to the country from half a million Venezuelans with TPS would help steady the country economically.\u201d<\/p>\n

In comments to reporters on Maduro\u2019s hearing, Notre Dame Law School professor and organized crime expert Jimmy Gurul\u00e9, a former federal prosecutor and former assistant U.S. attorney general, said the hearing is likely the first part of what will be a lengthy legal process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile justice will ultimately be served in the Maduro case, it won\u2019t be anytime soon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A jury trial in the Maduro case, Gurul\u00e9 said, \u201cis unlikely to commence until sometime in 2027\u201d in part because \u201cthe list of pretrial issues goes on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, defense attorneys will challenge the legality of the court\u2019s jurisdiction over Maduro,\u201d he said. \u201cDefense counsel will argue that the U.S. military invasion of Venezuela<\/a> and subsequent apprehension of Maduro not merely violated principles of international law, but constituted the crime of aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaduro\u2019s defense attorneys will seek broad criminal discovery, which could include a request for the disclosure of classified evidence,\u201d he added. He said that could involve lengthy litigation under the Classified Information Procedures Act, which \u201cbalances the government\u2019s needs to protect secrets with a defendant\u2019s rights to a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman holds a banner depicting Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Corina Machado, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,5638,896,42670,43020,43021],"class_list":["post-90592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-tps","tag-venezuelan-migrants","tag-venezuelan-president-nicolas-maduro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}