{"id":8076,"date":"2025-05-16T07:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T11:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=8076"},"modified":"2025-05-16T07:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T11:40:13","slug":"older-venezuelans-in-the-united-states-are-struggling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2025\/05\/older-venezuelans-in-the-united-states-are-struggling\/","title":{"rendered":"Older Venezuelans in the United States Are Struggling\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mariela Sucre, a Venezuelan asylum seeker, has spent the past few weeks feeling utterly overwhelmed. There\u2019s too much on her plate: working, caring for her 86-year-old mother (who has dementia) and waiting on an asylum case that hasn\u2019t moved in the seven years since she arrived in the United States. Now she faces a new worry: the Trump administration\u2019s rollback of immigration protections.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels incredibly unstable,\u201d says 64-year-old Sucre. \u201cI used to think, if they finally called me for an interview, my asylum would be granted; I have all the evidence. But now it feels like nothing is guaranteed, no matter what you have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Her case is one of thousands stuck in limbo, many involving people with no country to return to. For older adults like her, the experience is uniquely difficult. \u201cEmigrating after age 50 is incredibly hard,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ana Gil, director of the <\/span>Illinois Venezuelan Alliance<\/span><\/a>, a nonprofit that supports migrants in Chicago, says older migrants experience even more uncertainty than younger ones due to the daily emotional stress of shifting immigration policy. She says the alliance regularly sees older migrants experiencing depression, anxiety and social isolation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOlder adults aren\u2019t afraid of deportation\u2014they\u2019re afraid of being detained in their home countries,\u201d she says. \u201cThese are people who entered the United States with proper documentation, believing they had at least two years of legal stability. But everything has changed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sucre and her mother arrived in the United States in 2018 to escape political persecution on Venezuela\u2019s Margarita Island, where they had lived most of their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in Margarita, where our life was, I\u2019m a political target.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mariela Sucre<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A former criminal court judge, Sucre says the government removed her from the bench because she refused to align with its agenda. \u201cThey did the same to many other judges,\u201d she says. \u201cI left because the pressure was too much. I needed distance to regain strength.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the United States, she works as a delivery driver. And as her mother\u2019s condition worsened, intensifying Sucre\u2019s caregiving responsibilities, she started taking her mom to work with her. \u201cThat was my daily routine,\u201d Sucre says. \u201cBut now it\u2019s harder. I have to leave her home alone when I work. And the worry is constant, especially as we get closer to the day when I simply won\u2019t be able to leave her alone anymore.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sucre says she would have voted for Donald Trump\u2014had she been eligible\u2014because she believed he was best positioned to challenge the authoritarian Maduro regime in Venezuela. Now, though, she says the tightening immigration policies have created significant uncertainty for her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReturning to Venezuela just isn\u2019t an option with how things are,\u201d she says. \u201cI work very hard here, but at least I pay for my health insurance and my mother\u2019s, and we have access to medical care\u2014something we wouldn\u2019t have back there. That alone is deeply concerning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Political persecution remains a constant fear. \u201cBack in Margarita, where our life was, I\u2019m a political target\u2014not just from the government but from its corrupt and criminal allies,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rising Stress<\/b><\/p>\n

Organizers behind the <\/span>Venezuelan American Caucus<\/span><\/a>, an organization that builds networks of active, informed Venezuelan-American citizens\u2014have heard many stories like Sucre\u2019s since the Trump administration began dismantling protections for Venezuelans, including temporary protected status (TPS).<\/span><\/p>\n

The administration has aggressively moved to suspend or end programs offering humanitarian protection or legal pathways to migrants and refugees. Measures have targeted new arrivals and those already living in the United States under temporary protections, directly affecting more than one million people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe pressure older adults face in host countries is the same as everyone else, but perhaps more severe. Going back to a politically broken country, one that has only worsened, is extremely harsh,\u201d says Adelys Ferro, executive director of the Venezuelan American Caucus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferro says governments could imprison returnees regardless of age. \u201cThey have no safe place to return to. Going back could mean imprisonment or death, especially considering Venezuela\u2019s collapsing health care system. The current crackdown on immigration policies is causing real fear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the caucus does not provide legal services, Ferro says her office in Miami receives daily calls from asylum seekers, humanitarian parolees and TPS holders, many of whom came to the United States to reunite with family members they hadn\u2019t seen in years. Most are working and paying for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.<\/span><\/p>\n

But many are also suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. \u201cSome are too scared to leave their homes. They don\u2019t want their children or grandchildren to go out either,\u201d Ferro says, referring to the ICE raids and deportation orders currently underway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Living in Limbo<\/b><\/p>\n

Juan,* 87, hasn\u2019t seen his wife in more than six months, the longest they\u2019ve been apart in over 50 years of marriage. The last time they were together was in October, at the Bogot\u00e1 airport, just before boarding a flight to Miami to reunite with their children and grandchildren after nine years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Biden administration approved Juan and Mar\u00eda* for humanitarian parole under a program launched in 2023. The policy allowed family reunification through a US-based sponsor.<\/span><\/p>\n

But on the day of the flight, officials permitted only Juan to board. Mar\u00eda was denied boarding due to an unexplained issue with her parole approval. With minutes to decide, the couple, after a quick call with their children, decided Juan would continue to Miami while Mar\u00eda stayed behind in Bogot\u00e1.<\/span><\/p>\n

They assumed it would be a temporary separation. But now the program has been rescinded, leaving them stranded in two countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ricardo,* 53, and his younger brother, both Venezuelan asylum seekers and sons of Juan and Mar\u00eda, were thrilled when the Biden administration launched the humanitarian parole program. \u201cIt gave us hope,\u201d Ricardo says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the program, reuniting with their parents felt nearly impossible. Their asylum cases were stagnant, and getting their parents out of Venezuela, which lacks a US embassy, was a logistical nightmare….wait times for tourist visas at the US embassy in Colombia stretched to nearly a year in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Younger migrants can apply for student visas, talent visas or work certifications. But for those over 60, that\u2019s not usually an option.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 Niurka Mel\u00e9ndez<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The parole program changed that. It offered a legal route for US-based taxpayers to sponsor family members or friends, covering their expenses and taking on legal responsibility. Ricardo and his brother applied in 2023, and US officials approved them in April 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were so excited. Finally, we could care for our parents in the last years of their lives,\u201d he says. \u201cImagine one parent here, one over there. Imagine two elderly people in the final stages of life, separated like this. It\u2019s not easy\u2014not for them and not for us. We\u2019re still trying to find a way to bring her here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In New York, Niurka Mel\u00e9ndez, director of the support organization <\/span>Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid<\/a>,<\/span> says that older adults often have fewer immigration pathways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYounger migrants can apply for student visas, talent visas or work certifications. But for those over 60, that\u2019s not usually an option,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are just so many obstacles\u2014many tied to age. Often, the individual wonders, \u2018What am I doing applying for paperwork at this age?\u2019 Older adults should be enjoying retirement or living off their pensions, but they have none, neither in Venezuela nor here in the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

* Indicates that names have been changed to protect people\u2019s identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from the Gerontological Society of America, the Journalists Network on Generations, and the Silver Century Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mariela Sucre, a Venezuelan asylum seeker, has spent the past few weeks feeling utterly overwhelmed. There\u2019s too much on her plate: working, caring for her 86-year-old mother (who has dementia) and waiting on an asylum case that hasn\u2019t moved in…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Older Venezuelans in the United States Are Struggling\u00a0<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":8077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49,4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-issues-in-aging","category-security"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"wps_subtitle":"Shifting immigration policies create anxiety and depression","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8076"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8079,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8076\/revisions\/8079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}