Kevin Foster/Mother Jones
A little girl can’t go to the park with her parents. A mother trembles while taking out the trash. A father peeks through the blinds to see if anyone is watching. Years earlier, this family faced persecution in Venezuela, but now they’re living in terror in the United States.
They traveled thousands of miles on the most treacherous migration path in the world to seek asylum in the US, but following the legal pathways didn’t matter amid Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown. Jose, one of the primary providers for the extended family, was taken by ICE. For the safety of the family, we’ve changed their names and concealed identifying details.
Like many Venezuelan asylum seekers, they are stuck in a lose-lose situation. The Trump administration has specifically targeted Venezuelan immigrants for deportation, while simultaneously bombing their home country, abducting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and leaving behind a nation of instability.
It’s true that many Venezuelans loathe Maduro for his brutal regime that weaponized fear and terror to horde power. However, despite Trump’s claims that US intervention is helping Venezuelan people, Maduro’s allies remain in power and have already started to crack down on civilians.
The Trump administration continues to claim that it is safe to return back to Venezuela after its illegal attack. But in reality little has changed, and the threat of persecution remains, as does the crippling US naval blockade. There’s no certainty for immigrants back in Venezuela, but there is one thing for certain: They escaped one regime of terror for another.
“I depend so much on him,” Maria says of her husband Jose, the man who was taken. “We were a team. If he was here, he could take care of my son. I could go to work. It has been very complicated and I am so scared to go outside.”
Jose was sent more than 1,000 miles away from his family and spent months in detention. He describes being treated like an animal: Detainees were left to soil themselves while shackled in transit, and were medically neglected at the detention facility. Detainees were obliged to climb onto top bunks despite serious back pain, and were left completely in the dark as to what might be in store for them.
Meanwhile, the family struggles to survive. Maria faced debilitating mental health episodes after Jose’s abduction, kids are missing out on school, and they can barely leave the house to take out the trash for fear they could be snatched at any moment. They also say their family back in Venezuela still relies on them to send money back—between Jose’s abduction and the extreme fear of going outside, that’s become increasingly difficult.
His family, meanwhile, struggles to survive. Maria faced debilitating mental health episodes after Jose’s abduction, their kids are missing out on school, and they can barely leave the house, even to take out the trash, for fear they could be snatched at any moment. Their family back in Venezuela still relies on them to send money back, but between Jose’s abduction and their limited mobility, that’s become increasingly difficult.
Maria and the others held out hope for his release, as they had followed the proper legal pathways to obtain asylum, but the Department of Homeland Security had Jose deported to Mexico the day before the US military attacked Venezuela. For days, he had nothing but the clothes he’d worn in detention, and has been struggling to survive in a country where he has no connections.
His family has stayed put despite the constant threat of further separation and deportation. Returning to Venezuela now would put them at the mercy of a government that considers them traitors. It would mean walking right into the chaos the Trump administration has inflamed.
“We were happy people,” Maria says. “We didn’t have any doubt in the process. But now that we’re going through this, we feel terror.”
