A delicate balance: Why Doral GOP pols fight for Venezuelans, but avoid clash with Trump
Public officials in the U.S. city with the largest population of Venezuelans, the western Miami-Dade municipality of Doral, are facing a challenging dilemma as they navigate the shifting terrain of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
On one hand, they are grappling with the rollback of deportation protections for Venezuelans that had been extended by President Joe Biden shortly before he left office. The Trump administration’s looming termination of the policy, known as Temporary Protected Status, threatens hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans — many of whom call Doral home — with possible deportation back to the country they fled.
On the other hand, they are treading lightly to avoid a direct confrontation with President Donald Trump — whose candidacy many of them supported — while at the time pushing for solutions for a significant segment of the city’s residents.
Venezuelans have deep roots in Doral — 40% of the city’s population is of Venezuelan origin. Of those, at least 10,000 are American citizens, making up a third of the city’s voters and playing a pivotal role in local elections. However, it has taken several weeks for city officials to publicly air their concerns as a council about the revocation of TPS and its potential impact on Doral’s economy.
Rafael Pineyro, the only member of the city council who is from Venezuela, proposed on Wednesday a resolution “urging President Trump to find a solution for law-abiding Venezuelans.”
Pineyro said Doral has become one of the most affluent communities in Miami-Dade County and one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, largely due to the significant contributions of the Venezuelan community that has made the city home over the past decade.
READ MORE: In a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans will lose TPS. What you need to know
“It’s not a secret that the Venezuelan people left their country in order to escape the brutal and communist dictatorship of Hugo Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro,” Pineyro said. “People left the country for the same reason that my family left 25 years ago. We’re talking about sending good Venezuelans, professionals, families back to a country that right now doesn’t respect human rights and has over 1,600 political prisoners.”
But Pinyero was also quick to clarify that the council’s approval of his resolution isn’t “looking to create a confrontation with President Trump.” Nevertheless, he said, it is public officials’ ”obligation” to work together to find a solution to help “the good Venezuelans,” who he said make up around 98% of his countrymen in the U.S.
A Republican stronghold
Despite the fact that Doral has a plurality of voters registered with no party affiliation — 46.6% of its 36,000 voters — the city has experienced a dramatic political transformation in recent years. Just four years ago, Doral leaned more liberal, but it has since become a solid stronghold for the Republican Party.
In the 2024 election, Trump secured a decisive victory with 60% of the vote, highlighting the city’s shift toward the right. The change is also reflected in the city’s government: Every current council member is now Republican. Notably, Vice Mayor Maureen Porras, the last remaining Democrat, who was elected in a nonpartisan local election in 2022, switched her party affiliation to Republican in January.
Isabel Martin, a Venezuelan-American who emigrated in 1997 and has fully integrated into U.S. society, attended the Doral City Council on Wednesday to ask for support for the Venezuelan community. Describing herself as “super Republican,” Martin expressed she was hurt and disappointment over the revocation of TPS for Venezuelans.
She urged Doral’s public officials to refrain from participating in any immigration raids against Venezuelans, emphasizing the need for compassion and support for those who have made significant contributions to the city and the country.
“I hope in my heart that President Trump has immigration relief for the good Venezuelans who are contributing positive things to this country,” Martin told the Miami Herald.
She said Venezuelans she knows of are “terrified” by the revocation of TPS, and fear that the Trump’s administration statements about Venezuelans being members of the criminal Tren de Aragua gang could lead to hatred and targeting of Venezuelans.
“People are scared,” Martin said. “They’re scared to wait for the bus for their children, afraid to go to work, when they’re just trying to make a living.”
Doral is the heart of South Florida for Venezuelan cuisine, where you can easily find authentic Venezuelan empanadas, distinctive white cheeses that resemble traditional varieties, and café con leche that stands apart from the Cuban version. The city is also a hub for a thriving industry centered around shipments to Venezuela, and every block echoes with Venezuelan-accented Spanish.
But Doral is also the city where the Trump Organization recently received unanimous approval from the city council for its latest real estate venture in South Florida — an ambitious luxury condominium project consisting of four 20-story towers with 1,498 residential units, 470 hotel units, and 141,694 square feet of commercial space. Eric Trump, the president’s son, backed the city’s efforts in opposing the relocation of a Miami-Dade waste incinerator within Doral’s city limits.
Doral is also where, shortly after being elected president, Trump endorsed a key council candidate, Nicole Reinoso, which allowed Mayor Christi Fraga to regain control of the local government.
Reinoso, whose husband is Venezuelan, said that as a community leader who represents a large potion of the Venezuelan community she is standing up for those who do not have a voice.
Porras, an immigration attorney, urged the council to support a permanent solution such as congressional proposals like the Venezuelan Adjustment Act, which would grant permanent resident status to Venezuelans who entered the U.S. before December 31, 2021, or the Dignity Act, which focuses on strengthening border security by hiring more CBP personnel.
Adelys Ferro, a prominent leader of South Florida’s Venezuelan community and executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus, acknowledged the efforts and initiatives aimed at helping the Venezuelan community, especially those coming from Doral. However, she pointed out the harsh reality: Despite the efforts, it’s unlikely that any permanent solution will be found in the near future.
Although she wishes there were an adjustment law for Venezuelans similar to the Cuban Adjustment Act, the decades-old measure that allows Cubans to become permanent residents after being in the U.S. for a year and a day, she said she was cognizant of the fact that there have been multiple attempts to eliminate that very law.
“If they are unwilling to grant us temporary protections, which don’t lead to permanent residency, how can we expect them to grant us a pathway to residency when their goal seems to be removing any legal protections we have?” Ferro said.
Ferro echoed the sentiment shared by Doral’s city officials, stressing that Venezuelans with TPS contribute significantly to the local economy. “We are not criminals; we are hardworking individuals with legal status, striving for a better life and to contribute to the cities and states where we live and work.”
Fraga, who sent a letter a week ago to Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging them to consider a solution for Venezuelans who have followed the rules, said that while the city lacks the authority to establish protections from federal policies, it has a responsibility to represent the people of Doral who may suffer the consequences of policy changes.
Fraga, emphasized Doral’s commitment to advocating for the Venezuelan community, stressing that the city does not define the Venezuelan population by a small minority — referring to the Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang. Instead, it is focused on supporting the majority of law-abiding individuals who have made significant contributions to the city.
“If this protection goes away we’re going to lose these people,” she said. “ They’re going to hide, and we’re gonna lose track of them.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM.
