Real Estate·ImmigrationFlorida landlords are turning away immigrants on temporary legal as deportation worries loomBy Nino PaoliBy Nino PaoliNews FellowNino PaoliNews FellowNino Paoli is a Dow Jones News Fund fellow at Fortune on the News desk.SEE FULL BIO The Trump administration has canceled hundreds of thousands of temporary es for immigrants in the U.S.
this year.Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty ImagesDoral Landings East, a gated Miami suburb consisting mainly of single-family s, is experiencing an immigrant exodus.
Many Venezuelans d and worked there under temporary grams that expanded during the Biden administration, The Wall Street Journal reported.
But the community of 80,000 people, 40% of whom are Venezuelan, is experiencing greater vacancy rates than surrounding communities.
In Doral, vacancy rates have increased from 5.6% late last year to 6.5%, above vacancies in surrounding communities where rates are 4.3%.
Real estate agents are pointing to Venezuelan immigrants fleeing in fear of their temporary expiring under a Trump administration that’s tried to fast-track deportations, according to the Journal.
Venezuelans are one of the largest groups on temporary in the U.S.
today, but the Trump administration deportation tection for 350,000 Venezuelans in April, and another 350,000 will see their tection expire in February 2026.
At the same time, Doral apartment building owners are reportedly turning away families under temporary permission as worries mount that Trump could suddenly make them illegal residents in the U.S.
Experts say this could violate federal and state fair housing laws by discriminating against one’s nation of origin, regardless of their immigration .
If a landlord turns a potential tenant away for suspecting they’re not a citizen, that would be a violation of the civil rights law, Gregory Vincent, founder of Gregory Vincent Law based in Columbus, Ohio, told Fortune.
The Fair Housing Act was enacted as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and is designed to hibit discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial , and disability.
Tenants rejected on the basis of their immigration could be entitled to punitive damages, Vincent said.
Vincent, who’s also a former regional legal affairs director for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, said asking for someone’s immigration is outside the regular information needed by renters for landlords to make sure they can pay, which includes things a Social Security number, employment , and credit history.
“All of those things are legitimate, but the idea that you’re gonna ask someone’s immigration , in my opinion, that’s a step too far,” Vincent said.
Yet, Raul Gastesi, commercial litigation and transaction attorney and partner at Gastesi Lopez Mestre & Cobiella, told Fortune immigration has become a blem and financial risk that landlords have to consider as the Trump administration works to revoke temporary tected of millions of immigrants.
First designed for Venezuelans in 2021 and then expanded thereafter, temporary tected (TPS) allows for nationals from a list of countries experiencing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other extraordinary conditions, to work and in the U.S.
Residents under the gram are given a Social Security number and a work permit.
Trump has TPS for 500,000 Haitians and for over 70,000 Hondurans, along with people from other countries Afghanistan and Nicaragua.
If temporary is revoked, the affected individuals can’t work, cutting off the income they would’ve used to pay rent, said Gastesi, who represents landlords for single- and multi-family housing.
It can be a months-long cess to evict someone, and landlords are losing income during that time, he added.
Still, landlords can’t make blanket statements they’re not going to rent to any immigrants or to anyone on a temporary , Gastesi acknowledged.
“I see the immigrant’s position, but I also see the landlord’s position. None of it is easy.” Fortune Global Forum returns Oct. 26–27, 2025 in Riyadh.
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