As former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in New York, questions remain about what will happen to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who fled their homeland to escape to the U.S. in recent years.

After Maduro was captured over the weekend, many Venezuelans who lived in fear under his regime celebrated his arrest. Many who had lived in Venezuela under Maduro's reign were so fearful, they escaped to the U.S.

Chicago felt the impact of that refugee crisis. More than 50,000 migrants had resettled in Chicago between August 2022 and September 2024, many of whom were from Venezuela and are still living in the city.

The Trump administration last year moved to terminate the legal status and work permits of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants enrolled in the Temporary Protected Status program.

It's not clear what will happen to their immigration cases after Maduro's capture.

After years of waiting, one Venezuelan man, who asked to remain anonymous, was scheduled to become an American citizen in December, but his citizenship appointment was cancelled just a week prior without explanation.

Dr. Jose Balboa, a Venezuelan American who knows that man and other asylum seekers in the same boat, and himself became a U.S. citizen in July, said it will be harder for them to justify seeking asylum with Maduro no longer in power.

"It's a different regime. How will you justify now that you're getting persecuted by Maduro when, no, it's a different regime now?" Balboa said.

Last month, CBS News reported that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began halting immigration cases, including citizenship ceremonies, for nationals of more than a dozen countries, including Venezuela.

But some from the country worry Venezuela is more unstable than ever after Maduro's ouster.

Balboa said he believes it "will be a blood bath" if Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was revoked or who are seeking asylum in the U.S. are forced to immediately return to Venezuela.

"The dictatorship is still intact. Only Maduro and his wife are here," he said.

Others feel Maduro's removal is cause for celebration — though a new government has not been solidified.

"This is a huge first step, and I have the hopes that the next steps are going to go to that end that we're hoping to be," said Blad Moreno, a Venezuelan American who became a U.S. citizen in 2023. "We are hoping to be that there's going to be freedom and democracy in Venezuela; we're going to be able to have a country to come back and feel free."

In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Venezuelans said that every person with Temporary Protected Status can apply for refugee status.

"Every individual that was under TPS has the opportunity to apply for refugee status, and that evaluation will go forward," she said.

Later on X, the Department of Homeland Security said that wasn't true, and said that Venezuelans can "go home to the country that they love."