Walt Disney has notified Florida-based employees who are losing temporary legal residence in the US that its jobs would be closed next month after the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday that allowed Trump administration to revoke protections to 350,000 Venezuelans.
The company sent an email to employees under temporary protection status (TPS) on Tuesday, stating that they were placed on an unpaid 30-day license from May 20. Those who are unable to provide a new work authorization valid at the end of the license will be fired, according to the internal communication seen by Bloomberg.
A Venezuelan employee under the status of TPs working at a Disney resort was prevented from entering the premises when he performed to work on Tuesday, the worker said, asking not to be identified when discussing private information.
“While we resolved the complexities of this situation, we put affected employees on leave with benefits to ensure that they are not violating the law,” Disney told an email. “We are committed to protecting the health, safety and well-being of all our employees that may be sailing through change immigration policies and how they can impact them or their families.”
About 45 workers are affected, according to the company.
The Burbank-based Disney decision, California, one of Florida’s largest employers, follows the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Trump administration to end the legal protections for Venezuelans under the TPS, removing their right to live and work temporarily in the US and opening many of them from the prospect of deportation.
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Immigration lawyers and advocates have stated that the Supreme Court’s decision on Venezuela probably opens the door for TPS protections to other countries to exhibit, placing more than 1 million workers in various US states and many at risk industries.
Laura Bloniz, a business immigration lawyer in Santa Monica, California, said many employers are now seeking to reduce legal risks related to workers with TPs or other temporary protections for immigrants. She has stated that human resources managers are probably already looking for alternative visas or programs, but in most cases, there is a little while they can offer.
“It will be incredibly disruptive,” said Bloniz.
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The rights of Venezuelan migrants have become a recurring issue in the Supreme Court. Judges on Friday extended an order that blocks the administration of using a war law to send about 176 alleged members of Venezuelan gangs to a notorious arrest in El Salvador.
The latest decision allows the internal security department to cancel an extension of the TPS that the Biden administration implemented shortly before leaving office. The measure will affect more than half of the 600,000 Venezuelans currently covered by the program. Others remain under protected status until September.
A federal judge in California is expected to hold an audience next week about the Trump administration’s plans to end TPS to Venezuelans. US district judge Ed Chen had previously blocked the end of the protections, stating that the government’s justification “has no evident support.”
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Supreme Court’s decision did not address the merits of the original lawsuit, but gave the government permission to end the program while the dispute continues.
There are about 360,000 people with TPS status in Florida, 60% of which are from Venezuela. TPS was created by Congress in 1990 to protect migrants from countries facing armed conflict, environmental disaster or other disasters. Today, nationals from 17 countries are covered by the program. Venezuela was added to the list in 2021 after a period of economic and political collapse under President Nicolás Maduro.
Marc Perrone, the recently retired president of the International Union of Food and Commerce Workers, said that about 10% to 20% of approximately 240,000 union members in packaging and food processing work with temporary permissions.
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Among the biggest difficulties are remote locations and the challenging nature of many of the jobs, he said in an interview in April. If these positions are vacant, this can lead to the scarcity of labor that increases food prices across the country, he said.
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