Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) joined Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Darren Soto (FL-09), House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks (NY-5), and 69 House Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem demanding they immediately restore Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans following the Trump Administration’s military action in Venezuela.
On Saturday, January 3, 2026, the Trump Administration conducted a major military operation in Venezuela, without Congressional authorization or notification, to depose and arrest Nicolás Maduro, leading to further instability in the nation. TPS is designed to protect immigrants from nations destabilized by war, violence, or natural disasters from deportation back to unsafe conditions.
“Hundreds of thousands of lawful Venezuelan residents who benefited from TPS…are facing deportation in the coming weeks to instability, desperate poverty and danger—conditions that have become even more dangerous since President Trump ordered military strikes and special operations to remove dictator Nicolás Maduro,” the Members wrote. “Many Venezuelans are hiding out in their homes, terrified of follow-on strikes or harassment by the regime which remains in place.”
“While Maduro was captured and brought to the United States to face justice, his criminal accomplices remain in power,” wrote the Members. “We are disturbed that the Administration has vocally backed these individuals, who are complicit in the worst abuses of the Venezuelan regime over the last decade, while dismissing the pro-democracy leadership of the legitimate president-elect, Edmundo González, and Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader María Corina Machado.”
Other signers of the letter include: Reps. Amo, Balint, Barragán, Bell, Bonamici, Brown, Carson, Casten, Castor, Cherfilus-McCormick, Chu, Cisneros, Cleaver, Conaway, Crockett, Dean, DeSaulnier, Doggett, Elfreth, Escobar, Espaillat, Frankel, Frost, Robert Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Goldman, Gottheimer, Green, Huffman, Jonathan Jackson, Julie Johnson, Kamlager-Dove, Krishnamoorthi, Larson, Susie Lee, Lieu, Lynch, McBride, McGovern, McIver, Menendez, Meng, Moskowitz, Moulton, Nadler, Norton, Pallone, Panetta, Pingree, Pou, Pressley, Raskin, Rivas, Salinas, Scanlon, Schakowsky, Scholten, Robert Scott, Titus, Tokuda, Torres, Trahan, Vargas, Waters, Watson Coleman, and Wilson.
The lawmakers’ full letter to Secretary Rubio and Secretary Noem is available HERE and below:
Dear Secretary Rubio and Secretary Noem:
We write to urge you to immediately restore Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans following the Trump Administration’s military action in Venezuela. Conditions in the country are deeply unstable and dangerous, and the still-intact Venezuelan regime, emboldened by support from the President of the United States, has doubled down on repression and brutality since taking power.
The Trump Administration’s calamitous decision to terminate TPS for Venezuelans in January 2025 was rooted in a determination that conditions in the country had improved. This claim was baseless at the time, and, with the regime left in place, it is certainly untrue now. This termination of lawful status has caused unimaginable fear and anxiety for law-abiding Venezuelan families, who passed criminal background checks, earned work permits, and paid fees and taxes.
Hundreds of thousands of lawful Venezuelan residents who benefited from TPS are set to lose their employment authorization, which will have devastating economic consequences for essential sectors in Florida and across the country. Many are facing deportation in the coming weeks to instability, desperate poverty and danger—conditions that have become even more dangerous since President Trump ordered military strikes and special operations to remove dictator Nicolás Maduro.
This administration has not just abandoned Venezuelans in the diaspora, they have abandoned the Venezuelans that remain in Venezuela, who yearn for freedom and a democratic transition. While Maduro was captured and brought to the United States to face justice, his criminal accomplices remain in power, including de facto interim president Delcy Rodriguez, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello (who was indicted alongside Maduro in 2019). We are disturbed that the Administration has vocally backed these individuals, who are complicit in the worst abuses of the Venezuelan regime over the last decade, while dismissing the pro-democracy leadership of the legitimate president-elect, Edmundo González, and Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader María Corina Machado.
The worst fears of the Venezuelan community were confirmed as President Trump stated that Delcy Rodriguez will be empowered to “make Venezuela great again” and underscored that his objective was extracting oil resources from the country rather than ending the suffering of Venezuelans and promoting a peaceful, democratic transition of power.
In the days since the U.S. military operation commenced, which included missile and drone strikes in densely populated areas of Caracas that damaged residential buildings and injured innocent bystanders, the Venezuelan regime has enacted a new law criminalizing any expression of support for Maduro’s exit from the country. Dozens of people have been arrested and jailed, including journalists, for sending text messages or issuing social media posts related to the news. Many Venezuelans are hiding out in their homes, terrified of follow-on strikes or harassment by the regime which remains in place.
In light of these developments, we urge you to immediately rescind the revocation of TPS for Venezuelan beneficiaries and extend these critical protections for law-abiding Venezuelans who are genuinely fearful of being sent back to the same murderous regime under new management.
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