Roughly 50K Venezuelans who arrived in Chicago over last 2 years in limbo after SCOTUS ruling

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There are about 50,000 Venezuelans who have arrived in Chicago over the past two years. Their lives are now in limbo, after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to take away their legal protections.

One 30-year-old Venezuelan man works full-time in a bakery, and volunteers four hours a week at a warehouse that stores supplies for people in need, including migrants. The father of two says he is terrified of being deported.

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"In reality, we live in desperation. I don't know if it will happen when you go out and will see a strange car behind," he said.

He is too fearful to share his identity, as the reality of him and his family being deported has gone way up since Monday's U.S. Supreme Court order, allowing the Trump administration to remove protections for almost 350,000 Venezuelan migrants who were legally allowed to stay in the U.S. under a program known as Temporary Protected Status, or TPS.

"Now, you're going after folks that we need to work in our country to do jobs that most Americans don't want to do," said Pastor John Zayas, with Grace & Peace Church.

Zayas has spent the last two years helping migrants settle in the Chicago area. He and immigration attorneys say some are well-established in their communities.

"They have a mortgage. They have a car. The threat of losing their work permit, they are not going to able sustain their mortgage, or provide for their families," immigration lawyer Rocia Becerril said.

The 30-year-old Venezuelan man says his TPS expired in April. If he is deported, he says there is no work for him in Venezuela.

He says he came to the United States "for a good future, to live in peace, to work."

He said he wanted to create a good future for his children.

Zayas says many of the families he works with say the conditions in Venezuela are so bad they would rather be in the U.S. living in fear under the threat of deportation than return.

"There's hope here. There's no hope over there, whoever's in charge, whoever's the president. There's no hope; they know what's waiting for them. This is still gives hope," Zayas said.

While they hang on to a sliver of hope, Venezuelan migrants with jobs say they will continue to work and live in the shadows, like so many other immigrants have in the United States.