Venezuelan workers at Disney put on leave after Trump stripped their legal protections

Disney placed dozens of Venezuelan workers on leave after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip them of their legal protective status.

At least 45 employees were impacted, just days after the nation’s highest court allowed the Trump administration to remove the temporary protected status for roughly 350,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S. The decision effectively eliminated their ability to legally live and work in the country as well as protections against their deportation from the United States.

“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,” Disney said in a statement.

The Independent has reached out to the Walt Disney Company for more information.

These 350,000 Venezuelans impacted by the order were granted humanitarian protections in 2023 because it was not safe to return to their home country.

The Supreme Court ruling comes after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem directed the termination of the Temporary Protected Status designation.

In March, a California district judge paused the government’s directive, writing in his opinion that it threatens to “inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States.”

That ruling was upheld by an appeals court, and then the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court - which allowed the administration's plan.

All 45 impacted Disney employees will continue to receive benefits and roughly two-thirds of the affected workers were part of a union, the Associated Press reported.

Julee Jerkovich, secretary-treasurer of the United Food And Commercial Workers International Union’s Local 1625, told the outlet on Friday: “It’s very distressing,”

“Disney is being made to be the bad guy, but they didn’t have any choice,” Jerkovich said.

“These workers — our colleagues, friends, and neighbors — have contributed immensely to the success of the Walt Disney Company and to the vibrant culture of central Florida,” a coalition of unions at Disney World told the outlet in a statement. “No worker should have to live in fear of losing everything after building a life here.”