Venezuelans shamelessly entering the US under lax Biden border policies now say they want Trump to be president
At least a million Venezuelans have entered the US under President Biden’s border policies, but now some are claiming they are supporting their rival Donald Trump, who has said he will deport millions of others like them if re-elected.
The unexpected support for former President Trump is being shouted from the digital rooftops of social media.
But there is also inevitable pushback from those who point out that migrants are benefiting from Democrat Joe Biden’s policies. They also point out that Republican Trump has promised to end many of those protections if he returns to the White House.
“On Day One of my new administration, I will close the border, stop the invasion of people flooding across our border, and send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home where they belong,” Trump vowed at a rally in May, according to ABC news.
“They should be sent home.”
Javier Hala Madrid, a Venezuelan who has lived in the US for years, uses his megaphone on social media to mock Biden supporters and explore why he thinks they are wrong to support the incumbent president.
On social media, Venezuelan supporters of Donald Trump are pushing back against what they call a false narrative that he is anti-immigration
“Ask yourself if you are better off now or then,” Madrid asked in a Video message from May.
He showed a chart of the consumer price index under Biden and under Trump, which he said showed the economy was better during the Trump administration.
Prices have risen sharply since Biden took office, even though inflation was already spiking after Trump left office due to the COVID pandemic.
Madrid also pushed back against what he called the “false narrative” that the former president was anti-immigration.
“Correction, before Donald Trump left office, he was the one who authorized protections to prevent Venezuelans from being deported and issued work permits,” he stated.
He was referring to the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program that Trump implemented in the final days of his first term, Politico reported.
It offered temporary legal status to Venezuelans fleeing the humanitarian crisis caused by the regime of Nicolás Maduro. This meant that no deportations took place and that those who met the requirements were given work permits.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Doral, Florida, on July 9
Many recently arrived Americans reject liberal ideas, immigration attorney Rolando Vazquez says
A migrant from Venezuela and his wife set up a tent in a makeshift camp of shelters, on the median strip of Eje Central Avenue, in Mexico City, Mexico, on June 18.
“I am in favor of immigration, but I am against illegal immigration,” Madrid added.
He showed a video of Trump saying he is against illegal immigration, not legal immigration.
Trump himself is married to two immigrants: Czech first wife Ivana, who died in 2022, and Slovenian third wife Melania.
“The problem is that a lot of Hispanics believe the Democrats when they say over and over again, ‘We’re going to do immigration reform. We’re going to do immigration reform.’ You believe it every election, but they never do it. They lie to you and manipulate you,” the Latin American influencer said.
“At least the Republicans don’t lie to you. They tell you right away, ‘We’re not going to do immigration reform.’ I’d rather they didn’t lie to me.”
Nearly a million Venezuelans have entered the US under Joe Biden, according to data from the US State Department. US Customs and Border Protection.
Approximately 820,579 Venezuelan citizens crossed the border into the United States, entering the country illegally and immediately contacting border patrols so they could surrender and seek asylum.
Although an unknown number of people have been deported, the vast majority are allowed to remain legally while the courts rule on their asylum applications, a process that can take years.
The 820,579 figure also includes Venezuelans who entered the U.S. legally through a border crossing with a CBP One appointment, the government’s preferred route for migrants traveling to the U.S. southern border to seek asylum.
Another 106,100 Venezuelans have been granted humanitarian release under the Biden program, according to the administration.
Trump has indicated that if he wins, he would end nearly all of the programs Biden has offered to Venezuelans, including use of the CBP One App, humanitarian releases for Venezuelans and border surrenders, where migrants enter illegally but surrender to border patrol so they can file asylum claims.
Biden’s border policies, which the federal government says have allowed as many as 10 million migrants to cross the U.S. border, are unpopular with migrants who say too many people are coming in.
The Texas National Guard is conducting an operation using non-lethal weapons, specifically a pepper spray gun, to disperse migrants maintaining a camp in the Rio Grande on the Mexico-United States border in Ciudad Juarez.
Migrants attempting to enter the United States through a barbed wire fence along the Rio Grande are repelled with pepper spray by Texas National Guard officers at the border with Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on May 13.
Venezuelan migrant Naiber Zerpa holds her son Mathias Marquez as they arrive at a temporary camp after crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia
“They’re the ones complaining about Biden’s policies,” Vazquez joked.
“My clients say, ‘Where I live, we get so much of the people who made us leave Venezuela. Now they live next door to us, they’re our neighbors. They’re ruining our image for us. They’re ruining our reputation, our name.’ The open border policy has really hurt them.’
Vazquez cites Venezuelans involved in serious crimes, such as the two men accused of murdering and raping a 12-year-old girl in Houston, as examples of criminals who should not be allowed into the country.
He believes a Trump presidency would add the much-needed filters that good immigrants, who simply want to work and obey the law, want.
“There is a perception or misconception that is being perpetuated by the mainstream media that Trump is anti-immigrant… that immigrants will not adhere to his policies, but the opposite is true,” explains immigration attorney Rolando Vazquez.
The Miami lawyer, known as the “Angel of the Border” for his reputation for regularly winning asylum cases for migrants, was born in the US to Mexican parents.
His wife was born in Venezuela and is now a citizen. They are both devoted Trump supporters and frequent guests at Mar-a-Lago.
Immigration attorney Rolando Vazquez (right of center) is an outspoken Donald Trump supporter and a regular at Mar-a-logo
Vazquez, a Miami resident, attends a recent Donald Trump campaign event in South Florida
“Immigrants tend to be very Christian, conservative, and not progressive, and those ideologies fit the Republican Party,” Vazquez said.
“Also the fact that (Trump) is against communism. They suffer from this political ideology in their home country, that’s what made them flee to the United States.”
The lawyer has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and says his clients support Trump even though they can’t vote for him.
This week, he put out a last-minute call for volunteers for an event in Doral, Florida for Trump’s campaign.
Despite less than 24 hours notice, 60 of his followers signed up to participate in the Trump event.
“Some of my clients don’t have the right to vote, but they can express their support in a number of ways.”