A new coalition of Venezuelan organizations in the United States emerged this Friday in Doral, Florida, to denounce the "suffering" caused by the deportations under the Trump administration and to warn that they will mobilize their community's vote ahead of the midterm elections.
The newly formed "Coalition of Venezuelans in the USA" delivered a letter to Republican Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart signed by 20 organizations and 126 social leaders, urging him to publicly address the immigration arrests carried out by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the area.
Helene Villalonga, president of the Multicultural Association of Activists Voice and Expression (AMAVEX), led the event and was straightforward about the group's electoral intentions: "We, as nonprofit organizations, definitely have the power to call for votes and, of course, we also want the balance of power to return to Congress, absolutely."
Las deportaciones y arrestos migratorios siguen generando tensión entre las comunidades latinoamericanas en EE.UU. Sigue toda la actualidad sobre este tema en nuestra sección de
Villalonga clarified that the coalition will not support specific candidates but will promote civic participation: "Those who are here, the vast majority are citizens and residents. And we are going to vote, of course. We will encourage voting; we will not sponsor political candidates, but we will definitely promote voting."
Doral, where 40% of the population has Venezuelan roots, has been living under a climate of fear for weeks due to the presence of ICE in its streets. Jani Méndez, a member of the coalition, described it in personal terms: "As a citizen, I came here six years ago when I was little; I am also afraid. I am afraid that my sister won't be here, that my mom will be taken away because she doesn't have a status. I am very scared."
The coalition brings together Venezuelans from various political affiliations —republicans, democrats, and independents— and its first public event coincided with the visit of the so-called "border czar," Tom Homan, who that same day spoke at an event at the Trump National Doral Miami and boasted of nearly 200,000 immigration arrests in the last four months, warning that deportations will intensify in 2027.
The Venezuelan-American councilor of Doral, Rafael Pineyro, rejected that approach: "We are not telling the Administration to stop doing their job, we are telling them: do it the way you said you would, that you would go after the criminals. The individuals who have been detained are certainly not criminals."
The migration tension is compounded by the outrage over Trump's statements during the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, in which he claimed that people in Venezuela "have a smile on their face." The community also reacted to his words in an interview with Time magazine, where he noted that it is still "too soon" to celebrate elections in that country, while deportations to Venezuela continue.
José Antonio Colina, president of Venezuelans Persecuted in Political Exile (Veppex), pointed out the contradiction: "The same prudent time that must be waited to dismantle the repressive apparatus and to call for elections is the same time that should be granted to Venezuelans who are in the United States seeking political asylum or looking for some form of protection."
One day before the event, Díaz-Balart himself had described Trump's reaction to the immigration crisis as "excessive" in an interview with Telemundo, which increased pressure on the legislator to take a stronger stance before his Venezuelan electorate in South Florida.
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