STATUS ANXIETY

HOW TO DEPORT 1 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR? MAKE RULE-FOLLOWING IMMIGRANTS UNDOCUMENTED.

- ISABELA DIAS

Cecilia Daniela Gonzalez Herrera is part of the TPS lawsuit against the Trump administration.

NATHALY MAESTRE has tried to follow her doctors' instructions to the letter. Her obstetrician and perinatologist were clear: At 40, eight months into a high-risk pregnancy, and after a miscarriage last year, she has to avoid unnecessary stress.

But that has become impossible. In May, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protection from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the United States. Overnight, Maestre and her partner, Luis Guillermo, found themselves without status-despite following all the rules.

"You try not to think so much about what's happening outside," Maestre told me in Spanish, her voice breaking. But it is hard "with all these sudden, abrupt changes." Fleeing persecution from pro-government militias in Venezuela, Maestre and Luis Guillermo came to the United States on tourist visas in September 2021 and later applied for asylum. In the fall of 2023, another option became available: Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. This stopgap shield from deportation for people who cannot safely return to their countries of origin because of armed conflicts, natural disasters, or other extraordinary circumstances has protected roughly 600,000 Venezuelans-until now.