SAN JOSE — Manuel Jaimes, a 21-year-old student at De Anza College, immigrated from Venezuela to pursue an economics degree in the South Bay.

He described life in his home country as “always in crisis for everything.” He talked about how many Venezuelans were homeowners yet still experienced impoverished conditions, lacking electricity or running water several days of the week. He described the people as hard-working but said there wasn’t a lot of work. Jaimes also talked about the threats to freedom and health that people were experiencing under Nicolás Maduro’s presidency.

When Jaimes’ application for Temporary Protected Status was approved in 2023, he said it was “exciting,” and he dropped out of the Venezuelan university he was enrolled in to study and work in the U.S. Now, he said he worries about paying rent and saving enough money to send back to his family.

“In Venezuela, the crises … distract you to things that don’t matter,” Jaimes said. “So it’s really consuming. It’s really stressful. When I’m here, I stress about rent, a car … but they’re, like, normal things.”

The Department of Homeland Security announced last week that hundreds of thousands of immigrants already living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status can legally stay for another 18 months. The announcement came less than two weeks before Donald Trump’s inauguration, which is expected to lead to more aggressive anti-immigration policies, with threats of deportation and limiting avenues for immigration and citizenship.

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Jeremy Barousse, director of policy and organizing of the immigration services nonprofit Amigos de Guadalupe, said TPS gives legal shelter to individuals who come from countries experiencing harsh political persecution or extreme climate and environmental issues. It protects these people from deportation and gives them the opportunity to live and work in the U.S., but it doesn’t give them a long-term path to citizenship.

Jeremy Barousse, director of policy and organizing for Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment in East San Jose, is seen through a window as he talks with organizing manager Misrayn Mendoza, front left, during a meeting on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) 

“TPS is a great program,” Barousse said. “It’s helped millions of people over the years, and with the extension … people are able to breathe a little bit and continue to work and provide for their families and contribute to the fabric of our country.”

Congress created TPS as part of the 1990 Immigration Act. As of Friday, about 600,000 Venezuelans and over 230,000 Salvadorans with TPS are allowed to remain in the U.S. due to the extension. It also applies to the more than 103,000 Ukrainians and around 1,900 Sudanese immigrants residing in the U.S.

Gina G., a 33-year-old San Jose resident who asked to use only her first name and last initial due to fear of repercussions over her status, said the political, social and economic situation in Venezuela also drove her and her husband to immigrate to the U.S.

She said that even though there were idyllic places to live in her home country, she didn’t feel secure, as if her life was at risk every day. Although she still doesn’t feel perfectly safe where she lives now, she said she feels “much better” and “more safe” compared to her home country.

Trump previously attempted to end TPS for Salvadoran immigrants during his first presidential term, but the effort was halted in court. Since winning re-election, Trump has again talked about diminishing TPS as a way to reduce the immigrant population in the U.S.

“Every immigration program may be under some type of threat,” Barousse said. “I think (Trump is) probably going to look at all the programs and what he can do to deport as many people (as he can). Right now, there’s just a lot of uncertainty of what he will do.”

According to Zip Atlas, San Jose has the fifth largest Venezuelan community in California. Barousse said that Trump could end “sensitive location” policies that prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents from taking immigration enforcement actions in places of worship, schools and health care facilities.

Immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, may stop going to school or avoid medical treatment due to the crackdown. Although a Trump ally said that the deportations are focused on adults and not children in schools, these deportations could fracture families all across the county.

“For a lot of our hard-working immigrant families who have been raising their families here in Santa Clara County for decades … being separated would just be cruel to see and inhumane,” Barousse said.

Gina G. said she was unsure and afraid of what would happen when Trump becomes president again. However, she said she hoped that the incoming administration would preserve TPS.

She also said that she hopes for more rights and opportunities to grow for immigrants, like herself.

“Personally, since I pay taxes, I do everything correct, I’ve been here for almost eight years, I would love to have the opportunity to have the right to vote, you know?” Gina G. said. “I pay everything that this state and this nation ask to pay.”

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Jaimes spoke about his fears, sandwiched between a dictatorship in Venezuela and the threat of TPS being revoked in the U.S. while still trying to navigate college and financial aid applications. He said he would like to return to Venezuela, but there would need to be a change in government, and he would need to finish his education first.

“The Venezuelan immigrant community is (a) working community. We’re just looking for democracy, and we just want to have a normal life that has been stolen from us in Venezuela,” Jaimes said. “And I’m pretty sure a lot of us want to go back.”

Barousse encouraged people to attend a “know your rights” workshop in their county or get resources from the Rapid Response Network in the county, which is composed of several nonprofit organizations dedicated to protecting immigrants.

“Santa Clara County has historically been a country  of immigrants. It’s a very vibrant community of immigrants, and that’s something that should be celebrated,” Barousse said. “We continue to celebrate and be resilient.”