‘No good options’: Losing legal status has left some Chicago immigrants in limbo

Most days, Maria — a classroom assistant at an elementary school on Chicago’s Northwest Side — feels grateful for the time she gets doing what she loves: being in the classroom. Her students have special needs and many speak Spanish. She says they’ve improved academically since she first started working with them in the fall of 2024.

But lately, she’s been coming to school feeling really stressed. That’s because Maria, who is from Venezuela, is no longer authorized to work in the United States and may soon have to leave the classroom. She doesn’t know how or if she’ll be able to return.

WBEZ is not using her full name or her school’s name because she fears retaliation.

Maria’s legal status changed in May after a Supreme Court decision allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 350,000 Venezuelans. TPS allows eligible noncitizens to work legally in the U.S. while shielding them from deportation. It was originally set to expire in April for some Venezuelans, but that was put on pause by a federal judge following a lawsuit.

That court decision changed Maria’s life overnight.

“When I woke up and heard the news, I felt like crying, and I kept asking myself, ‘What am I going to do [now]?’ ” Maria said in Spanish. “I am afraid, because at any time, human resources can call me to let me know that I don’t have a job anymore.”

TPS protections for Haitians and several other groups are also expected to end later this year.

Terminating TPS is one of several steps the Trump administration has taken to reverse former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and reshape U.S. immigration policy more broadly. The administration has moved to end birthright citizenship, stepped up deportations, issued travel bans and also ended another humanitarian program that allowed hundreds of thousands of people from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela to temporarily live and work in the U.S. legally.

Trump’s policies have prompted major protests in recent days, including in Chicago on Wednesday and in Los Angeles, where 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines have been sent without the permission of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Advocates and legal experts say TPS and humanitarian parole programs are meant to protect people who come from countries facing violence and extremely dangerous environments.

“It’s like a lose-lose situation no matter how you look at it, because I go back home to potential famine and insecurity as far as danger and violence; I stay here and I don’t know what my next move will be,” said Daniel Jean Jr., president of the Haitian American Professional Network of Chicago. And he says Haitians with TPS or humanitarian parole are worried about what that means for their families. “They’re thinking about their kids.”

Many immigrants who arrived under these programs are now in this limbo, weighing their options and trying to figure out what, if anything, they should do.

That uncertainty has affected people’s mental health, Jean says.

“Some people I know, they’re talking about quitting their jobs ahead of time and just trying to lay low and figure some things out. And you’re trying to help them. You don’t know what to do,” Jean said.

Advocates like Jean fear that eliminating these programs will increase the number of unauthorized immigrants trying to make a living in the underground economy. According to estimates by the Migration Policy Institute, there were 13.7 million immigrants without legal status in the United States in 2023.

When your legal status just disappears

Maria arrived in the U.S. legally under humanitarian parole, which requires a background check and a sponsor. Then she applied for TPS. “I have never intended to be here illegally,” she said. “It has always been my goal to follow the rules.”

In Venezuela, Maria was a victim of crime and violence. She also refused to teach the government-mandated socialist curriculum. However, she didn’t apply for asylum in the U.S., which usually allows people to work legally while their case is being processed in court. Still, she says going back to Venezuela is too dangerous for her.

Now, Maria is trying to keep a low profile.

Without TPS, each day, her anxiety increases. “I am avoiding the malls and grocery stores because I fear getting deported,” she said.

Many people in the community are doing the same thing. Since President Donald Trump took office again, federal agents have been aggressively ramping up arrests of immigrants outside schools, on the streets and most recently in immigration court. The enforcement measures are part of Trump’s efforts to increase daily arrest quotas.

Aside from the constant anxiety of getting arrested and deported, Maria is also sad about losing her job as a classroom assistant.

“I go beyond being an assistant,” Maria said. “My essence and my profession is to be a teacher.”

Teachers at her school don’t want to see her leave. The dual-language school where she works has a large Spanish-speaking student population, and Maria’s skills are in high demand in Chicago and Illinois.

“It is definitely devastating to see people like Maria experiencing this type of situation,” said Marisela, a 5th and 6th-grade literacy teacher who asked that her full name not be used to prevent Maria and their school from being identified. “Her knowledge, her dedication, her professionalism, is so valuable for our students.”

Maria is receiving legal advice on other visa options, which are typically difficult to navigate. It’s either that or a more dangerous and uncertain future back in Venezuela.

“I am a professional; I want to contribute,” Maria said. “Having to be treated like a criminal is not fair.”

Adriana Cardona-Maguigad covers immigration for WBEZ. Follow her on X @AdrianaCardMag.