Disney World has placed dozens of Venezuelan employees on unpaid leave after a court ruling allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from 350,000 migrants.
An estimated 45 employees at the Florida park were notified on Tuesday that they had been placed on unpaid leave as a direct result of a Supreme Court order allowing Trump to revoke Temporary Protected Status for a huge cohort of Venezuelans.
These employees were warned that their jobs would be terminated next month if they could not secure a new work authorization, Bloomberg reported.
‘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,’ a Disney spokesperson said.
‘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.’
Each of the employees have been placed on a 30-day period of unpaid leave, beginning May 20.
Disney World is one of the largest employers in Florida, with around 82,000 members of staff, who are described as ‘cast members.’
According to the publication, at least one Venezuelan employee turned up to work on Tuesday and was turned away.
Disney World has placed dozens of Venezuelan employees on unpaid leave after a court ruling allowing the Trump administration to strip legal protections from 350,000 migrants
Trump had a win in court this week as he seeks to embark on the biggest mass deportation scheme in American history
The Supreme Court this week effectively ended a ruling from a federal judge which kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.
The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.
It is not a pathway to citizenship, but the 18 month protection can be renewed repeatedly, and authorities have voiced concerns the renewal process had become basically ‘automatic’ in recent years.
There are an estimated 225,000 Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status in Florida who are now facing deportation.
Florida representative and Democrat mayoral candidate Anna Eskamani noted ‘Disney sets the standard’ in a warning that other companies could soon follow their lead.
‘Other companies in our economy look toward them.’
She added that many of the Venezuelans living in Florida supported Trump during the 2024 presidential election.
The high court’s order appears to be the ‘single largest action in modern American history stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status,’ said Ahilan Arulanantham, one of the attorneys for Venezuelan migrants.
There are an estimated 225,000 Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status in Florida who are now facing deportation
In a statement, Homeland Security called the court’s decision a ‘win for the American people and the safety of our communities’ and said the Biden administration ‘exploited programs to let poorly vetted migrants into this country.’
‘The Trump administration is reinstituting integrity into our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,’ said spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.
The case is the latest in a string of emergency appeals the Trump administration has made to the Supreme Court, many of them related to immigration and involving Venezuela.
Earlier this month, the government asked the court to allow it to end humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, setting them up for potential deportation as well.
