Live Updates: Trump Proposes Increased U.S. Engagement in Venezuela
As the news of Nicolás Maduro’s capture spread throughout New York City, numerous Venezuelan immigrants assembled inside a Methodist church on the Upper West Side to contemplate their futures. Many expressed joy over the arrest. One woman expressed her admiration for President Trump. Some considered returning to their home country. Others feared that the U.S. might utilize the intervention to expel asylum seekers. With the aid of a presentation, a community organizer provided updates as the group discussed the implications of America’s military action against their homeland. New York has become a focal point in the Venezuelan immigration crisis that emerged during President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s tenure. Between 2022 and 2024, tens of thousands of Venezuelan migrants comprised the largest group of new arrivals in the city, significantly altering a section of the ethnically diverse borough of Queens. Many remain entangled in legal uncertainty as they await the outcomes of their immigration proceedings. After Mr. Trump regained power last year, he revoked their protections as part of his campaign to increase deportations. Inside St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church on Monday, migrants queued to select clothing and snacks — bananas, Hawaiian rolls, yogurt, cheese sticks — as Niurka Meléndez, a Venezuelan asylum seeker who helped arrange the event, facilitated a conversation with a microphone. Later, she held a raffle for strollers, suitcases, and potted poinsettias.
Immigrants waited in line for donated clothing at St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church. Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesXiomara, 25, settled in a front pew, her baby bouncing on her lap as she listened to Ms. Meléndez. Xiomara arrived from Venezuela three years prior and currently resides in a Manhattan shelter with two of her four children. She requested that only her first name be used due to concerns about possible reprisals against her and her family by the Venezuelan authorities. She expressed gratitude towards Mr. Trump, stating that he had given her hope for improvement back home. “I’m confused, but happy and thankful because he did something that nobody could do,” Xiomara articulated in Spanish. “I think we owe him our lives.”At a Venezuelan restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, about seven miles east, patrons enjoyed scrambled eggs and cachapas while reflecting on the weekend’s developments. At one table, Eladio Castañeda, a 47-year-old resident of Jackson Heights, mentioned that he hoped to return to Venezuela in the coming months to visit his daughters, who he has only seen via FaceTime since departing his homeland. Mr. Castañeda has resided in the United States for the last 25 years. “They have to clean up the government,” Mr. Castañeda expressed in Spanish. “It’s full of rats. It’s like the subway here.”Venezuelan flags fluttered in the streets of Queens following Nicolás Maduro’s arrest. Credit…Mimi d’Autremont for The New York TimesEladio Castañeda monitored developments from his homeland at a Venezuelan café in Queens. Credit…Juan Arredondo for The New York TimesVenezuelans in New York, many of whom are living in shelters or barely scraping by in one of the world’s priciest cities, expressed a mix of emotions that showcased the ongoing tension between their approval of Mr. Trump’s action against Mr. Maduro and their discontent with his immigration policies. A number of them feared for the safety of their relatives in Venezuela as a result of Mr. Trump’s incursion into Caracas, which claimed at least 80 lives. In 2021, before the recent surge of migrants, there were approximately 15,000 New Yorkers of Venezuelan descent, including about 12,000 born in Venezuela, according to a census analysis by Social Explorer, a data research firm. From the spring of 2022 through the close of 2025, over 230,000 migrants — many hailing from Venezuela — made their way to New York, with many being accommodated in shelters across Manhattan and Queens. Venezuelans represented the most prominent nationality entering shelters. “I don’t even know what to think,” Melisa, 36, remarked in Spanish, tears forming in her eyes. Melisa, who resides at a Manhattan shelter with her husband and two children, is seeking asylum and asked to be identified solely by her first name out of concern for jeopardizing her immigration case. She is anxious for her mother and siblings in Venezuela: “It’s hard. I don’t know if tomorrow the military will turn on its people.”Niurka Meléndez, left, who leads an immigrant assistance group, organizes Miracle Mondays weekly, where migrants gather following major news events. Credit…Todd Heisler/The New York TimesMisinformation from Venezuela has heightened anxieties. Ms. Meléndez shared that she and her husband learned of the assault on Caracas after receiving urgent messages from relatives in Venezuela. The couple runs the nonprofit organization Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid, which arose from their efforts to share their experiences of starting anew in New York. They noted that numerous Venezuelans in New York were conveying information from American media to relatives in South America, who subsequently deleted the messages from their phones to protect themselves from potential governmental repercussions. “There were rumors of every kind,” her husband, Héctor Arguinzones, conveyed in Spanish. “It took the whole world by surprise.”In other Venezuelan neighborhoods, such as Doral, Fla., where nearly 40 percent of residents have Venezuelan roots and most oppose Mr. Maduro, revelers filled the streets to celebrate the military operation. While some individuals in New York also exhibited joy, the response seemed more subdued, according to Donovan J. Richards Jr., the president of Queens borough. Mr. Richards noted that many residents are anxious about being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who have been spotted arresting individuals on the borough’s streets. “People are living in fear here and still trying to figure out a way to process all of Donald Trump’s policies,” Mr. Richards stated. “They don’t know whether to be out on the streets.”Duvin Flores, 19, who is employed at El Budare in Queens, expressed his exhilaration upon learning about Mr. Maduro’s capture. Mr. Flores relocated to the United States with his two older brothers three years ago but moved to New York on his own. He remarked that he has found it challenging to comprehend the views of those who oppose the arrest. “I don’t know what’s going on in those people’s minds,” Mr. Flores remarked in Spanish. “At the end of the day, I think those same people don’t really know what Venezuela has been going through.”Within the church in Manhattan, several migrants from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic noted that Mr. Maduro’s removal served as motivation for other Latin American nations. “Maduro deserved what happened to him,” voiced Luis Savino, 60, a restaurant employee who came to New York roughly 17 years ago from the Dominican Republic. “Venezuela possesses numerous resources, but it has descended into poverty because everything has been stolen.”Ms. Meléndez shared that many Venezuelans in progressive New York have hesitated to celebrate openly or express genuine opinions due to fear of being labeled Trump supporters. Many migrants have escaped political oppression in Venezuela. Rita Gutierrez, 28, who joined fellow Venezuelans at the church, expressed that she felt ambivalent about the military operation, believing it was premature to assess whether it would lead to significant changes for the average citizens in her homeland. Other immigrants, such as Elizabeth Rodríguez, 38, who arrived in New York about a year ago and currently lives in a shelter in Manhattan, felt a duty to denounce Mr. Maduro’s regime due to the suffering they experienced at his hands. “We have been fighting these people for over 30 years, and we haven’t accomplished anything,” Ms. Rodríguez asserted in Spanish. “I had to leave my country because of it.”
Published: 2026-01-06 16:10:00
source: www.nytimes.com
