Latest news with #VenezuelanAssociationofMassachusetts
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Federal judge in Boston says prior ruling preserves Venezuelan deportation protections
The Boston case is among four suits filed across the country by immigrant advocates who allege the Trump administration lacked the authority to revoke Advertisement Although Stearns declined to issue a stay of Noem's order ending TPS, he allowed the Boston lawsuit to go forward. On Monday, California US District Judge Edward Chen ruled that Noem's plan to end TPS for Venezuelans on April 7 threatens to 'inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted' and cost the United States billions in economic activity.' Advertisement He found the government failed to identify any real, countervailing harm in continuing TPS for Venezuelans. 'Plaintiffs have also shown they will likely succeed in demonstrating that the actions taken by the secretary are unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus,' Chen wrote in a 78-page opinion. He issued a nationwide stay that prevents Noem from ending TPS for Venezuelans while legal challenges are pending. Immigration advocates are preparing to seek a similar court order preventing Noem from ending TPS for Haitians in August. Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the suit in Boston last month on behalf of Haitian Americans United Inc., the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, and the UndocuBlack Network, arguing that the administration's plan to revoke TPS is driven by racial and ethnic bias. Outside the federal courthouse in Boston on Tuesday, Oren Sellstrom of Lawyers for Civil Rightssaid the impact of the California ruling is 'dramatic' and means that Venezuelans who were about to lose deportation protections may continue to legally live and work in the United States. A couple of dozen demonstrators from various immigrant groups gathered on the sidewalk with signs supporting deportation protections for Venezuelans and Haitians. 'Regardless of who you are in this country you have rights,' said Patrice Lawrence, executive director of the UndocuBlack Network, vowing to continue fighting for TPS as the legal challenges unfold in Boston, San Francisco, Maryland and New York. 'Justice prevailed,' said Ciro Valiente, a spokesperson for the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, referring to the California ruling. Advertisement However, he said as the government continues to aggressively move on deportations, 'The fear is still there.' TPS, which was created in 1990, is a humanitarian program that gives immigrants from 17 countries facing violence, political upheaval or natural disasters legal authority to temporarily stay and work in the United States. TPS was first granted to Haiti in 2010 following a devastating earthquake and has been repeatedly extended since then. Last year, the Biden administration extended TPS until Feb. 3, 2026 for Haitians in the program. The Biden administration first granted TPS to Venezuelans in 2021, citing political and economic instability in the country under President Nicolas Maduro. In January, it extended the protections to Oct. 2, 2026. Days after Noem's appointment in February, she announced that she was ending TPS for roughly 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in April and another 250,000 in September, and for all Haitians by Aug. 3. Those actions will impact 600,000 Venezuelan immigrants and 521,000 Haitians who will no longer be able to work and may face deportation. The Justice Department argued in a court filing that Noem has 'clear authority' and discretion to terminate TPS for Haiti and Venezuela and that the statute creating the program 'broadly prohibits judicial review' of the secretary's decision. Noem vacated TPS extensions granted by the previous administration after reviewing conditions in Haiti and Venezuela, and conculding it was 'contrary to the national interest' to permit immigrants from those countries to remain temporarily in the United States, the government wrote. 'Plaintiffs' analysis fails to acknowledge that the secretary's determinations are rooted in foreign policy considerations,' the government wrote in its opposition to the request for a stay of Noem's termination of TPS. Advertisement The Boston lawsuit describes TPS as 'a critical lifeline in the United States for immigrants who have fled their home countries due to extreme violence, political upheaval, and natural disasters.' The suit says there is overwhelming evidence, based on remarks made by Trump and Noem, that the action was racially motivated. 'The list of dehumanizing and disparaging statements that Defendant Trump has made against Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants is unfortunately long: ranging from racist tropes that Haitians 'all have AIDS' and eat dogs and cats, to routinely describing Venezuelans and other Latino immigrants as sub-human 'animals,'' the suit says. . Shelley Murphy can be reached at
Boston Globe
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Mass. Haitian, Venezuelan groups sue Trump administration, claiming racial bias, unlawful rollback of TPS protection
'This racial bias translates directly into policy, both through executive action that disfavors Black and Latino immigrants — such as the TPS decisions at issue here — and action that favors white immigrants instead," lawyers wrote in the complaint. 'The Constitution forbids this type of biased decision-making.' Advertisement Lawyers for Civil Rights is representing Haitian Americans United, Inc., the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, and the UndocuBlack Network in the case. When Trump entered office for a second term, TPS for Haiti was set to expire on Feb. 3, 2026, and for Venezuela on Oct. 2, 2026. His administration is now attempting to accelerate those expirations to Aug. 3 and April 2, 2025, respectively. TPS is a humanitarian program that gives immigrants from 17 countries who are facing violence or devastation such as natural disasters Advertisement According to US Census data, Massachusetts has the second-largest Haitian population in the United States, behind Florida. As of last September, 35,320 people in Massachusetts had TPS; US Representative Ayanna Pressley, whose Boston-based district includes some predominantly Haitian communities, has previously estimated some Haiti has been designated under TPS since 2010 and Venezuela since 2021. Last month, The new legal battle mirrors lawsuits against Trump during his first term after he sought to revoke TPS for immigrants from Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal, and Sudan. Lawyers challenging Trump at the time similarly argued Trump's TPS moves were done for racist reasons and was therefore illegal. The issue was stalled in the courts beyond Trump's term, and then-President Biden ultimately rescinded the orders and extended the temporary protected status for immigrants from those countries. Sean Cotter and Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Samantha J. Gross can be reached at
Boston Globe
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘We feel too much anxiety': Venezuelans in Massachusetts in limbo as Trump administration ends the country's Temporary Protected Status
Advertisement 'Every day that passes ... my concern grows,' Anthony, who asked to be identified by his first name because of the looming threat of deportation said in Spanish. 'We feel too much anxiety.' The Trump administration has announced it will dismantle Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans, which allowed approximately 600,000 Venezuelans to Though the administration has said it is prioritizing violent criminals for deportation, this and other policies have expanded the number of people who could be eligible for deportation, even if they are in the country lawfully. Carlos Martin Medina, director of the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, a nonprofit which assists Venezuelans in the state, estimates 6,000 to 10,000 Venezuelans settled in Massachusetts between 2020 and 2024 as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants have made their way north. Advertisement DHS said in a notice 'The sheer numbers have resulted in associated difficulties in local communities where local resources have been inadequate to meet the demands,' Many Venezuelans here said they do not see an improved situation back home. Maduro began his third six-year term last month, even though polling booths showed that former diplomat Advocates such as Alba Contreras, a Boston-based immigration lawyer whose client base is largely Venezuelan, are fielding dozens of calls a day for help. 'That fear of returning has even become greater, because there's no guarantee that the Venezuelan dictatorship is going to receive them with open arms and not make them political prisoners,' said Contreras, who came to the US from Venezuela when she was a child. 'It brings out fear and panic in people.' 'This administration is making a lot of decisions,' she added, 'but they're not really telling us how we're going to go about this.' Alessandra, a Venezuelan woman living under TPS in Malden, is among those who feel returning to her country could endanger her life. Advertisement 'They [the government] can kidnap you, they can take everything that you have, they can torture you,' she said. Alessandra, 31, came to the United States in 2021 on a tourist visa, and then stayed through TPS. She faced political persecution for her activism in Venezuela and was discriminated against for being a part of the LGBTQ community, she said. Her partner joined Alessandra through a humanitarian program for family reunification and then was granted TPS, too. Alessandra requested the Globe use her middle name because of the risk of retaliation and deportation she faces. The couple met while studying architecture in Caracas, and Alessandra now has a stable job at an architecture firm, thanks to her legal status. They own a Jack Russell terrier and were planning on getting married soon — something they can't do back home in Venezuela, where same-sex marriage is not legally recognized. Alessandra's TPS expires in September, and her partner's in April. 'We have roots now in this country,' Alessandra said in Spanish. 'From the morning to the night, they destabilized us, and we really have our hands tied.' Kenia, a Venezuelan mother of three living in Lynn under TPS, has spent recent days hustling to find a lawyer who could help their family. She didn't think applying for asylum would be necessary since she was secure under TPS, and so has missed the one-year filing deadline. 'I'm sad, but there has to be a solution,' she said in Spanish. The family traveled through more than half a dozen countries, including the treacherous jungle of the Darién Gap on the Panama-Colombia border. They crossed the border without authorization and turned themselves over to immigration officials in Texas. For more than two weeks, they slept at Logan Airport before finding housing. Now she supports herself by braiding hair and, sometimes, shoveling snow; Her kids have settled in; her 15-year-old daughter wants to become a makeup artist one day, and her boys love to play soccer here. Kenia, 42, requested the Globe use her first name only because she fears being deported. Advertisement Massachusetts organizers are concerned the Trump administration's move against Venezuelans is just the beginning of actions to also end TPS for those from other countries, including El Salvador, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti, and Honduras. More than 27,700 people in Massachusetts have TPS, 'We are all worried, because of the uncertainty that there is right now,' said Jose Urias, an organizer with the TPS Committee of Massachusetts, a group that advocates for residents eligible for TPS, who is from El Salvador and has held TPS since the early 2000s. He has lived in the US for more than three decades, and has two children who are US citizens. Sarang Sekhavat, chief of staff for the Massachusetts Immigrant Advocacy and Refugee Coalition, said options to acquire other legal statuses might be slim, particularly for Venezuelans who have less than 60 days left under TPS. 'There's really little that folks can be doing right now, except for going to speak to a qualified attorney,' he said. 'We are going to see a lot of families torn apart.' For Anthony, the father of three in Lynn, each work day begins at 3 a.m., when he wakes for his early morning shift at a food manufacturing company in Chelsea. In the afternoon, he goes out again to his second job as a food delivery driver. Advertisement His wife cares for their young sons, who have autism, and depend on the medical support system here — doctors, aides, therapists, and medication the family cannot access in Venezuela. Their daughter loves singing and learning English. Even if they don't find another legal status, they're probably going to stay, Anthony said. 'We have few alternatives,' he said. 'I don't think there's much else we can do, other than to pray to God that something changes with TPS.' Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at
