A group of members of Congress from Florida and 11 other states expressed outrage Tuesday in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the Trump administration’s decision to terminate deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S.

The letter from the Democratic legislators calls attention to the stark contradiction between the Department of Homeland Security’s claims of “notable improvements” in Venezuela — which the administration is using to end Temporary Protected Status — and Rubio’s own characterization of the Nicolas Maduro regime in Caracas as a grave threat to both its citizens and the world.

Venezuelans in the U.S. are anxiously awaiting a court ruling that could restore an 18-month extension of TPS granted by the Biden administration on Jan. 17, a move that would protect 607,000 Venezuelan TPS holders from losing their legal status and facing deportation.

The first hearing for the case is set for March 24, as an April 2 deadline approaches that would put more than 350,000 TPS holders at risk of losing their legal status and work authorizations. By September, a second group comprising another 257,000 Venezuelans will be similarly affected. For many, the looming deadline means not only the loss of jobs and security but also the real threat of deportation to Venezuela, a country they fled to escape political repression and economic collapse.

U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston and Gregory Meeks of New York led the letter to Rubio, which was supported by Florida's entire Democratic congressional delegation, including Frederica Wilson of Miami Gardens, Maxwell Frost of Orlando, Darren Soto of Kissimmee, Kathy Castor of Tampa, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Miramar, Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach and Jared Moskowitz of Parkland.

Florida, home to over a third of the 903,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S., remains the heart of the Venezuelan American community. The letter also garnered support from members of Congress in Texas, Georgia, California, Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maine as well as the District of Columbia.

The letter pointed out that Homeland Security justified its decision on Feb. 5 to revoke TPS by claiming Venezuela had made progress in areas like public health, crime, and the economy, suggesting conditions were now “safe” for Venezuelans in the U.S. to return. However, just one day after the decision was issued, Rubio himself reaffirmed the brutal reality of Maduro’s regime, which he stated “imprisons, tortures, and forces millions to flee.” Rubio reiterated that Venezuela remains a “threat to humanity.”

The lawmakers argued in their letter Tuesday that deporting thousands Venezuelans back to a country that Rubio has called an “enemy of humanity” is not just misguided but an outright betrayal of the Venezuelan American community.

They demanded an explanation for the sharp discrepancy between the DHS assessment and Rubio’s own statements about the dire situation in Venezuela.

The criticism from Democrats of the Trump administration intensified amid growing concerns over the treatment of the Venezuelan community. The administration has increasingly targeted Venezuelans with a series of executive orders, categorizing many members of the community as members of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang.

Over the weekend, the administration issued an order invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a law dating back to 1798. The law has been used only three times in U.S. history, including during World War II when the federal government interned Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans in camps. The current application of the law has sparked significant outrage, with critics calling it an overreach that risks unjustly criminalizing a vulnerable community.

After the order was published, more than 200 Venezuelans, allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, were deported to El Salvador, where they were sent to the largest prison in Latin America. Families of three men who appear to have been deported and imprisoned in El Salvador spoke to The Miami Herald, claiming that their relatives have no gang affiliations. Two families asserted that their loved ones had never been charged with a crime in the U.S. or anywhere else. One individual had previously been accused by the U.S. government of ties to the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, but his family vehemently denies any such connection.

The situation has raised alarms about the fairness of the deportation process, particularly as many of those deported face harsh conditions and potential mistreatment upon arrival in El Salvador.

On Sunday morning, Rubio said in a statement that, under Trump’s directive, the federal government had invoked the Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport Venezuelans accused of being members of TdA. The administration has designated the gang as a terrorist organization, and in an executive order issued Friday and released Saturday said Tren de Aragua is “undertaking hostile actions and conducting irregular warfare against the territory of the United States both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.”

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