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This story was originally published by South Side Weekly.

South Side Venezuelan families are navigating a complicated mix of hope, uncertainty, and fear following Nicolás Maduro’s capture in Caracas and arraignment in New York. Questions about asylum, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and the safety of loved ones back home have grown more urgent as these residents try to understand what shifting U.S. policy could mean for their lives in Chicago.

Marina Suares fled violence and political persecution in Venezuela with her children and grandchildren and survived a perilous trek through the Darién Gap and Central America before reaching the United States in 2023. She and her family were among the thousands of new arrivals who initially spent time sleeping on the floors of police stations in Chicago. Suares slept at the 2nd District station for nearly two weeks while seeking asylum and support after arriving with nothing.

When a fire destroyed the South Side apartment they had just moved into after leaving the police station, she and her family relocated temporarily to Washington, D.C. She still returns to Chicago regularly for immigration court hearings and to meet with the nonprofit supporting her asylum case. The Weekly checked in with her again after first speaking with her last year.

“I have this great feeling…that finally we are seeing a light,” she said about Maduro’s capture. “For us, this is a lot,” she said.

For her, Maduro’s capture represents the first consequences a top official has faced for the harm his regime has inflicted on ordinary Venezuelans. “At least we are seeing that one of them is paying for some of what so many Venezuelans have suffered,” she said. “But we know that the president here is doing that for something of his benefit,” she added.

While Suares expressed relief, and a sense of long-delayed justice, she said it doesn’t........

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