Two Venezuelan mothers and their young children ended up sleeping on the floor at Miami International Airport after airlines refused to let them board flights home, saying they did not have the right travel documents. Their husbands had already been deported, and the women said they felt they had no real option but to self-deport. A Miami nonprofit eventually found hotel rooms for the families, but advocates say the ordeal exposes a paperwork trap that can leave parents and kids effectively stranded.
Airlines Require Passports or a One-Time 'Salvoconducto'
Passengers told reporters that airline staff would not accept photocopies or screenshots and demanded either a valid passport or a one-time travel authorization known as a salvoconducto, which is issued by Venezuelan authorities. According to CBS Miami, a larger group of migrants, including adults and children, had been spending nights at MIA after being blocked from boarding, even though several had already registered through the federal CBP Home app to arrange voluntary departures.
Nonprofit Stepped In, but Families Were Targeted by Fraud
Miami-based nonprofit Hermanos de la Calle stepped in to secure hotel rooms and provide food for the families, according to WPLG Local 10. One mother, who asked to be identified only as Jennifer, told reporters that a CBP representative informed her, “They couldn't help me without a passport,” and said a person on TikTok took $520 from her after promising to obtain the necessary documents. Homeland Security has not yet responded to questions about these cases, Local 10 reported.
What Officials Are Doing
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar's office told CBS Miami that her staff is working to find solutions and has requested a list of the migrants so it can be forwarded to the State Department in hopes of speeding up the paperwork. Some migrants said they were told they might receive the salvoconducto by mid-April, but for now the families remain in limbo, waiting on documents they cannot obtain while on U.S. soil.
Why Consular Closure Matters
Venezuelan consulates in the United States were effectively shut down after Caracas cut diplomatic ties in 2019, and the lack of functioning consular services has left many Venezuelan nationals with no clear way to renew expired passports or secure one-time travel authorizations. The closure has complicated everything from voting to routine paperwork for Venezuelans living abroad, reporting by The Washington Post shows.
Federal 'Self-Deport' Tools Do Not Fix Paperwork Gaps
The Department of Homeland Security operates the CBP Home app to help arrange voluntary departures and offers travel assistance and stipends to qualifying participants, but the app cannot force airlines to accept documents they consider insufficient and it cannot substitute for a passport. The federal program can help with travel logistics when the required documents are already in place, yet it does not solve the practical problem facing Venezuelans who lack access to consular services, officials explain on the DHS' CBP Home page.
Advocates say any near-term fix is likely administrative, such as clearer guidance from federal agencies to airlines or an interim way to issue travel authorizations so families can return to the country they are trying to reach. Until that happens, local groups like Hermanos de la Calle are left to fill the gap for parents and children caught between immigration policy and missing paperwork while lawmakers and federal officials sort through the rules.
