Miami Republicans trust Trump as new administration reengages with Maduro in Venezuela
Miami’s Republican representatives in Congress expressed optimism on Sunday about president Donald Trump’s ability to bring change to Venezuela, as the new president reengages with autocratic ruler Nicolas Maduro and cancels legal protected status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S.
In separate televised interviews, U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez and Maria Elvira Salazar indicated some concern about a series of decisive moves made in the previous 72 hours by the Trump administration.
But the trio of Cuban-American lawmakers said they were either working with the Trump administration to protect their constituents at risk of deportation or trusting him to ultimately force Maduro from office — which they have said should be the United States’ end-game in Venezuela.
“What we need to do is like, Trump pick up the phone like he usually does, and says ‘what can we do for you [Maduro] and your gangsters to go peacefully and quietly?’” Salazar said in an interview with Fox & Friends Sunday. “It’s Trump, only Trump can do that, and for him it’s easy.”
The interviews aired as it became clear Sunday morning that Trump’s Department of Homeland Security had not only rescinded the Biden administration’s extension of Temporary Protected Status last week for more than 500,000 Venezuelans, but also decided to let deportation protections expire in April for around half of that group. Florida has the largest number of TPS recipients in the country, 60% of whom are Venezuelans. Trump’s DHS justified the decision in documents by saying that Venezuela “no longer continues to meet the conditions” for the program, according to the New York Times.
The decision followed conversations between the two governments. On Friday, the Trump administration sent an emissary to Venezuela to meet directly with Maduro, and return home with six American hostages. A day later, the administration announced that the regime in Caracas had made a commitment to once again accept deportation flights.
And over the weekend, a deal struck during the Biden Administration for Chevron to continue operations in the country was also renewed for another six months. The extension was set to automatically be renewed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on Saturday.
When Biden was president, Miami’s congress members criticized the Democratic president for engaging directly with Maduro, accusing him of working with a dictator in exchange for foreign oil. At the time, the Biden administration was also pushing Venezuela to release U.S. hostages and hold democratic elections.
“It’s hard to believe that anybody could be so reckless, so irresponsible, and frankly, so idiotic,” Díaz-Balart said at a press conference on March 15, 2022 with Salazar and Giménez.
The representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to their offices Sunday about the justification by DHS for terminating TPS for Venezuelan recipients who’d received the designation from the Biden administration in 2023. That characterization follows a determination by the U.S. that Maduro illegitimately claimed victory in the country’s July elections, after which thousands of protesters were jailed. The candidate the United States recognized as the winner of the election, Edmundo Gonzalez, remains exiled, and told the Washington Post last month that negotiating to resume deportation flights to Venezuela would benefit Maduro.
Venezuela’s economy is in tatters. Over 7.8 million people have left the country in recent years.
With Trump now in office, however, the Miami representatives signaled in TV interviews that they’re giving the benefit of the doubt to the new Republican president — and emphasized that the president was putting pressure on the Venezuelan leader.
“It’s going to be very, very important that the world doesn’t perceive that there have been any concessions,” Díaz-Balart said in an interview on WPLG Local 10, adding that he was “going to insist” that oil sales stop. “I don’t think there have been, I actually know there haven’t been concessions.”
Salazar said on Fox & Friends Sunday that she was “delighted” about the return of the detainees and Maduro’s agreement to pay for deportation flights — but similarly raised the issue of oil, and said that Trump has to be “very careful.”
“President Trump is in a difficult situation because you gotta be sending the right message to our allies all over the world and in this hemisphere that we are not going to be negotiating with dictators for a few barrels of oil,” she said.
María Corina Machado, the opposition leader in Venezuela, re-shared Salazar’s interview on X and thanked Salazar for her support for the Venezuelan people.
“The future of democracy and stability in the region will be defined by the fight that we are waging in our territory and outside of it,” she wrote.
Each of the representatives voiced concerns about the end of the Temporary Protected Status program for Venezuela throughout this past week – including through the release of a joint statement – and they continued to advocate for beneficiaries of the program on Sunday, as it became clear the program will not be extended.
Both on WPLG and in a later interview on Univision’s Al Punto Florida, Diaz-Balart said that he was working with the administration to keep law-abiding Venezuelans from being deported, and advocated for a “case-by-case” approach.
“I continue working with the administration to see what alternatives we have,” he said on Al Punto. “Unfortunately, until now we have not been able to achieve an alternative. But we have time.”
Giménez, also speaking on Al Punto Florida on Sunday, said that there couldn’t be comprehensive immigration reform without border security. He also said he supports a case-by-case review of Venezuelan TPS recipients.
“I was not in favor of this decision by the president, it’s much better to do it case by case,” he said. “Especially people who are committing a crime here in the United States should be deported. The great majority of Venezuelans here are good people who are working and yearning for liberty.”
Miami Herald staff writer Syra Ortiz Blanes, el Nuevo Herald staff writer Antonio Delgado and McClatchy Chief Washington Correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
This story was produced with financial support from the Esserman Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 6:34 PM.
