Venezuela

Top Republicans in Congress praised President Trump for the operation in Venezuela amid calls for briefings in the days to come.

The Saturday celebrations in Doral and across Venezuela's vast global diaspora belie the reality that despite dictator Nicolás Maduro's capture by U.S. forces, his dictatorial socialist regime remains intact — and could be for quite a while.

South Florida lawmakers, who have long been united in their bipartisan condemnation of the Venezuelan regime led by President Nicolás Maduro, on Saturday morning applauded the Trump administration, and U.S. military and U.S. law enforcement authorities, for capturing the "narco-terrorist" and bringing him to justice in the U.S.

"The elimination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans earlier this year was reckless, dangerous, and wrong," Miami Mayor Elaine Higgins said Saturday in a statement. "The instability unfolding in Venezuela today makes it even clearer that the country remains unsafe for people to return. No one should be forced back into chaos and uncertainty."

The U.S. military action in Venezuela has drawn condemnation from many regional governments and global powers alike, raising fresh questions about legality, sovereignty and the risk of escalation.

The U.S. Justice Department has unsealed a new indictment alleging "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies" against Maduro, his wife and other defendants.

President Trump claimed overnight that the United States carried out airstrikes in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

In Miramar, immigration enforcement officials celebrated a Florida operation that resulted in the arrests and deportation of more than 230 people in 10 days. And they made it clear they will not make exceptions for Venezuelans who recently lost their legal status.

Friday's announcement that Venezuelan democracy champion María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize also lifts a diaspora facing deportations in the U.S. as well as a brutal regime at home.

Despite Venezuela's brutal dictatorship and historic humanitarian crisis, the Trump administration will end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for almost a quarter million more Venezuelan migrants next week.

More than 200 Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador's maximum security prison in March, including Frengel Reyes, who was living in Tampa with his wife and is now back in his homeland without her.

It also shows a stark division: those who have been in the U.S. for 15 years or longer tend to remain supportive of Trump.