MEXICO, CITY, Mexico, (venezuelanalysis.com) – President Donald Trump’s reinstatement of travel restrictions on Venezuelan nationals was met with strong condemnation from the Venezuelan government, which pledged to continue defending its migrants.
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically condemns and rejects the campaign of stigmatization and criminalization launched against the Venezuelan people by the government of the United States of America,” read a statement Thursday from the Nicolás Maduro government.
The White House’s new travel ban, announced on June 4, 2025, restricts entry from 19 countries, including partial visa suspensions for Venezuela, citing national security concerns, and goes into effect Monday.
The countries now facing bans and restrictions largely match those listed in a draft version that was leaked in March. The move marks a return to similar policies implemented during Trump’s first term, which also targeted several of the same countries with travel and visa restrictions.
Immigration advocates and advocacy groups in the United States swiftly condemned the ban, calling it politically motivated and harmful to immigrant communities.
Following the leak of the list of countries facing a ban earlier this year, Chicago-based organizations such as the Arab American Action Network, United African Organization, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Centro Romero, and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights denounced the policy.
“This has nothing to do with national security. This is about exclusion. It is reckless, it’s cruel, it’s xenophobic,” said Fasika Alem, programs director at the United African Organization.
The Venezuelan government likewise claimed restrictions on Venezuelans are politically driven, pointing the finger in particular at US secretary of state Marco Rubio, a longtime supporter of regime-change efforts against leftist governments in the region.
“This operation has been driven by the current secretary of state, Marco Rubio, a figure known for his deep-seated hatred toward the Venezuelan people, who has made systematic aggression a centerpiece of his foreign policy, with the backing of the Venezuelan far right,” Caracas’ communique read.
Vente Venezuela, the far-right US-backed political party led by María Corina Machado, issued a statement following the announcement expressing “gratitude to the Trump administration for its support of the democratic cause.” The party only subtly criticized the move, arguing that the measures should be “expressly targeted” at government officials. Dozens of Venezuelan state officials are already facing individual sanctions and barred from entering US territory.
The decision by the Trump administration to impose visa restrictions on Venezuela comes as the US government continues its crackdown on migrants, with Venezuelans in particular paying a heavy price.
The US Supreme Court recently issued a ruling allowing the Trump administration to proceed with its efforts to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some 350,000 Venezuelans living in the US, leaving them at risk of deportation. In March, 252 Venezuelan men were forcibly expelled from the US under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act and sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison.
The Maduro administration has pledged to continue advocating for all Venezuelans, both within and outside the country.
“The Bolivarian government of Venezuela reiterates its unwavering commitment to defending the rights and interests of Venezuelans wherever they may be,” said the Venezuelan government.
The declaration likewise reiterated the government’s warning advising its citizens against travel to the United States, saying “the country does not guarantee even the minimum conditions of respect, dignity, or legality” for Venezuelan immigrants.
The Maduro government negotiated to successfully reunite two-year-old Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal with her family in Venezuela after being forcibly separated by US authorities. Caracas also remains engaged in legal efforts with Salvadoran authorities to free Venezuelans from CECOT and facilitate their repatriation.
Likewise, immigrant rights groups have filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to invalidate the agreement between the US and Salvadoran governments that allowed for the forcible expulsion of hundreds of Venezuelans to the Central American country.
Recently revealed US government data obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune showed that US officials knew that the vast majority of men sent to El Salvador had no criminal record.
Since early March, Caracas has facilitated the repatriation of more than 5,000 migrants deported from the US across 29 flights.
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