On 21 May 2025, The Walt Disney Company placed around 45 Venezuelan employees at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida on unpaid leave. The decision comes in the wake of a major ruling by the US Supreme Court, which gave the green light to the Trump administration's efforts to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan migrants—a measure that once shielded nearly 350,000 people from deportation.
The affected Disney staff, known internally as 'cast members', were told they have 30 days to present updated work documentation. If they fail to do so, they could lose their jobs. Disney has said it will maintain health and other benefits during this period, but the message to staff was sobering: unless something changes fast, both their roles and their right to stay in the US may disappear.
