US business owners are confused about Venezuelan employees with temporary status

DORAL Fla AP As a business owner in the largest Venezuelan area in the United States Wilmer Escaray is stressed and in shock He is unsure what efforts he should take after the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants Escaray owns restaurants and three markets most of of them in Doral a city of in the Miami area people known as Little Venezuela or Doralzuela At least of Escaray s employees and numerous of his customers are Venezuelan immigrants with Temporary Protected Status also known as TPS The Supreme Court on Monday lifted a federal judge s ruling that had paused the administration s plans to end TPS for Venezuelans potentially exposing them to deportation The Department of Homeland Precaution welcomed the ruling but has given no details on when TPS is ending and what employers and beneficiaries should do The Trump Administration does not rest on its laurels We will act in an expeditious manner Tricia McLaughlin Homeland Safeguard assistant secretary disclosed Tuesday in a written response to questions about any expiration date for TPS after the court ruling and whether work permits were still valid Like countless U S business owners with Venezuelan employees Escaray does not know how long his employees will have legal authorization to work or whether he will be able to help them The impact for the business will be really hard stated Escaray a -year-old Venezuelan American who came to the U S to survey in and opened his first restaurant six years later I don t know yet what I am going to do I have to discuss with my group with my family to see what will be the plan TPS allows people already in the U S to legally live and work here because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural accident or civil strife The Trump administration reported immigrants were poorly vetted after the Biden administration dramatically expanded the designation Immigration attorney Evelyn Alexandra Batista declared the Supreme Court did not specifically address TPS-based work permits and a few work authorizations remain in effect She warned though that there is no guarantee that they will remain valid because the Supreme Court could change this This means that employers and employees alike should be exploring all other alternative options as TPS was never meant to be permanent stated Batista who has received hundreds of calls from TPS beneficiaries and companies looking for advice in the months since Trump returned to office and began his immigration crackdown Among the options they are exploring she mentioned are visas for people with extraordinary abilities for people who make investments and for agricultural workers Numerous TPS holders have requested asylum or other immigration benefits It s not clear if people with pending requests will be allowed to stay in the U S Venezuela President Nicol s Maduro on Tuesday condemned the withdrawal of TPS for Venezuelan immigrants TPS was a minimal protection they had Now it s been taken away from them Maduro reported in a televised regime event The American Business Immigration Coalition estimates that TPS holders add billion to the U S financial market through wages and spending power There are no specific estimates of the impact of Venezuelans although they make up the largest percentage of TPS beneficiaries They work in hospitality construction agriculture robustness care retail and food services This decision leaves business owners with limited options reported Rebecca Shi CEO of the coalition The concerns go beyond Doral William Paredes arrived at the U S in and now owns a window tinting business that employs four other Venezuelans in Tampa about miles kilometers northwest of Miami He does not know what is next and he has no plan This is my and my family s economic endorsement Paredes mentioned I m leaving everything in God s hands because if I think about it I get depressed We re in limbo He and his wife and son now came to the U S on tourist visas and soon requested asylum He lost his asylum incident but thought he was shield from deportation as a TPS holder His -year-old daughter was born in the U S and is an American citizen Paredes was a police officer in his home country and left after receiving threats for working as a prevention guard for a mayor who opposed the ruling socialist party He commented he cannot go back I m too scared and just thinking that they might send me back to Venezuela gives me goose bumps Paredes revealed Escaray the restaurant owner mentioned he hopes to find a legal pathway so his Venezuelan employees can keep working for him If not he stated he might have to fire them I want to keep them to work with us But we have to respect the law