ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Venezuelan workers at Disney are now on a deadline. They have been placed on leave after a Supreme Court decision allowed their temporary protective status – TPS – to expire. That means they will either have to change their immigration status or leave the country. “This is ridiculous,” said William Diaz, founder of Casa de Venezuela.
Diaz promised to fight back after the Supreme Court sided with the Trump Administration on a move to strike down temporary protective status, or TPS, for Venezuelans. “Unfortunately, for a state like Florida, that means a lot. The academic level of the Venezuelan community is one of the highest in this country, which means it’s a strong contribution to the country,” Diaz said.
TPS allows immigrants to work and live in the United States temporarily. It is given to citizens of nations facing political instability. The decision to revoke the status will impact roughly 350,000 Venezuelans.
Channel 9 has learned 45 of them work right here at Disney. “If you don’t have the valid documents, you’re not working at Disney, Universal is very similar, SeaWorld is very similar,” immigration attorney David Stoller said. “They’re gonna lose some people, maybe people who have been around for quite a while, but in the bigger picture, is better stay on the right side of the government.”
In a statement, Disney said:
“As we sort out the complexities of this situation, we have placed affected employees on leave with benefits to ensure they are not in violation of the law. We are committed to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of all our employees who may be navigating changing immigration policies and how they could impact them or their families.”
Casa de Venezuela is working on an event with the National TPS Alliance to help those impacted by the decision. It will be held at the First Baptist of Orlando, at 11 am on Saturday, May 31st.
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