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Earlier this month, Venezuelans in the U.S. lost their temporary protected status. That is a federal program. It allows people from certain nations affected by war or natural disaster to temporarily stay and work in the U.S. The Trump administration's decision to axe the program for Venezuela has upended life for hundreds of thousands of people. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED producer Henry Larson reports on how one of them is looking at the big picture.
GAEL GOMEZ: The planet Saturn - come look at the planet Saturn (ph).
HENRY LARSON, BYLINE: On a cold fall night in Washington, D.C., there's a chance you might stumble onto a group of astronomers asking you to stare down the sights of their telescopes.
G GOMEZ: I'm trying to find double cluster. They are twin clusters of stars in the constellation of Perseus. And they are very, very cool.
LARSON: Manning the telescopes is 19-year-old Gael Gomez. He cofounded the astronomy group, the Mount Pleasant Sidewalk Astronomers. Gomez loves astronomy. More specifically, he loves teaching people about astronomy.
G GOMEZ: So you see that? That's a 5-inch parabolic mirror.
LARSON: But tonight, he's outside to do more than just show off his telescope.
G GOMEZ: The story behind this telescope is this was the first telescope my parents bought me for 50 bucks when I first arrived in the United States.
LARSON: Gomez and his parents are from Venezuela. Up until earlier this month, they all had temporary protected status, TPS.
G GOMEZ: Overnight on November 7, Venezuelans lost their legality in the United States.
LARSON: Now, families like Gomez's are stuck in limbo. They're at risk of deportation, and President Trump is weighing taking military action against Venezuela. That, political instability and rampant poverty in the country means going back feels impossible.
G GOMEZ: Because I fear for my life - it's very dangerous down there.
EMPERATRIZ GOMEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
LARSON: That's Emperatriz Gomez, Gael's mom. She says, "going back is not an option." In 2019, she moved her family to Washington, D.C., as she was finishing up her master's degree in microbiology. Her work visa expired a few years later, but the family was able to stay under TPS, a program the Trump administration says was never supposed to provide long-term support. In October, Department of Homeland Security Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that previous administrations abused, exploited and mangled TPS into a de facto amnesty program.
E GOMEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
LARSON: Emperatriz says she's hoping to find work that would allow her family to stay in the country with some kind of stability. So Gomez says his family is applying for new visas, ones that will let them stay in the country for a while. Applying for those visas requires a lawyer, and costs are adding up. To help cover the bills, Gomez and his astronomy group are selling photos he's taken.
G GOMEZ: So this is a photograph of the aurora borealis that I took from here, from Mount Pleasant, last October of last year.
LARSON: Each photo goes for $150. He takes donations too.
G GOMEZ: We made $1,400.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Really?
LARSON: This is just tonight - $1,400 tonight?
G GOMEZ: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I guess it was worth coming out.
LARSON: Gomez says they need more than $20,000 to submit their applications. And even if he raises the money he needs, there's no guarantee they'll get visas from the State Department.
ELIZABETH TAUFA: They now also will have to deal with the fact that their country has been put under a partial travel ban, which is going to make getting any visa more difficult for them.
LARSON: That's Elizabeth Taufa, an attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. She says the odds are stacked pretty high against Venezuelans now trying to stay in the U.S. Despite those odds, Gomez seems undaunted, and he's often out on clear nights, selling photos and sharing his passion.
G GOMEZ: The rings of Saturn, the cloud bands of Jupiter, and people freak out when you show them the truth of what's up there. And that also incentivizes people to look up.
LARSON: And, at least for now, he's got a chance to do just that.
G GOMEZ: How you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Hi. How are you?
G GOMEZ: You want to look at the planet Saturn?
LARSON: Henry Larson, NPR News.
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