DORAL, Fla. — Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans will soon lose their deportation protections and face returning to a country many say isn’t safe.
Among them is Adolfo Fernandez and his wife, Mariana Molero, who fear for their lives if forced to return.
“We became part of this society in every single aspect,” Fernandez said. “We pay taxes, we share all the American culture, we celebrate July 4th, we feel proud of this country for its history.”
The couple, both former lawyers in Venezuela, said they have helped the immigrant community since first receiving Temporary Protected Status in 2021.
“Yesterday, we (started) panicking again. The whole community is in panic again,” Fernandez said. “What’s going to happen to us? I don’t want to put my wife in danger, I don’t want to put myself in danger.”
“We are in danger, that is the reality,” Molero added. “The situation is almost too much to handle.”
Molero, who also serves as Orlando director of AMAVEX, a Venezuelan-American human rights group, recently met with bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, to push for sanctions against the Maduro regime.
“A regime in Venezuela that is killing people like him and me (who) speak against them — is the situation resolved?" Molero asked.“ No. So why do you want Venezuelans who have been fighting to go back to democracy — now you are going to punish them — like go, you garbage, go back home, you don’t deserve to be here. And it is very sad."
Her comments came after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would terminate the 2021 TPS designation effective “60 days after publication of the Federal Register notice.”
“After that we don’t have any protections,” Fernandez said. “I can be exposed to a deportation, you know, so that scares me. It is very hard for the family. I have two kids and I don’t think we deserve this.”
The announcement sent shockwaves through a community already living in legal limbo.
“We run away to a country of freedom and protections and what are we doing right now? Scared to death, don’t go out, don’t go to a public place, don’t go to a concert, just shadow your freedom. That’s where we are,” Molero said.
Fernandez said the policy unfairly punishes law-abiding immigrants.
“If there is a small portion that is criminal and dangerous for the country, I get it. Take care of those, not everybody,” he said. “We have been doing things right. Why rip off the possibility to stay living here legally, following the rules and everything? So it is very sad.
“I think it is fair for people committing crimes or doing something wrong in this country, or not supposed to be here, and I understand the situation at the border the past three years was out of hand, I understand it is complicated. But there has to be some sort of balance on how you do things.”
Fernandez also questioned the Trump administration’s recent military actions in the region.
“And now we have the administration blowing up boats in the Caribbean Sea because of the drugs that are coming out of Venezuela — we don’t understand what is going on. What is the position of the government?” he asked.
The couple worries that their fierce defense of democratic values could put them at greater risk if forced to return, especially in light of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.
“We have to fight for what we want, and this is what this country has shown me, that we need to fight for what we want,” Fernandez said. “I came here with nothing and I have two kids that I love, and I am proud they are Americans.
“I have faith we will be successful. I believe in God, he will decide our fate, and I have faith that everything is going to be okay in the end.”
He also pushed back against rhetoric portraying immigrants as criminals.
“I don’t know if the president can prove all the people who came here are from mental institutions and things like that. I can prove that there are people here that are doing things right. They are contributing to this community,” he said. “I get disparaged by his rhetoric, his agenda to justify what we see every day. I don’t see any evidence that people are coming here are all criminals or the majority of them are criminals.”
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
