Lauren Villagran

folks are celebrating maduro's ouster but are truly concerned about their ability to live work and remain in the united states as you said it's early days but are there some immigrants who now want to return to venezuela

You know, Dana, there surely must be, but the folks that I talked to still believed that the situation is far too tense in Venezuela right now.

You know, you have seen already, immediately in the wake of Maduro's ouster, key members of the Maduro regime come out to speak to cameras saying, you know, the people in the streets know what to do.

That was from Diosdado Cabello,

who is one of the key figures in the regime.

There are colectivos in the street.

Those are the armed militias who essentially keep order and enforce the government's repression of opposition.

I think that even those like Niurka in New York, who dream of being able to one day go back to a country that she loves, that many in the Venezuelan diaspora love dearly, they just don't feel like it's safe enough yet.

then for those who wish to stay in the u.s is there a path forward for them you know outside of a of a marriage-based green card right now no the key protections have largely been erased now asylum applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis so it really is going to depend on how attorneys for u.s immigration and customs enforcement

what route they decide to take for each individual case and how immigration judges respond.

But we know the administration is asking immigration judges to dismiss cases or preemptively cancel them before they can hear the merits of whether someone deserves asylum or not.

So it certainly is a moment for a very uphill battle.

We've seen the Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, come out and say on Fox News that Venezuelans should be ready to return, that the conditions in the country are quickly going to improve.

So I think we'll be watching in the coming days and weeks to see if the administration

changes its policies vis-a-vis the Venezuelan diaspora.

You know, Gustavo Garagorri, again, the Republican Venezuelan American in South Florida, is hopeful that the administration might recognize the difficulties and provide a new path for his countrymen and women.

Thank you, Dana.

I appreciate it.