Jesús, who grew up in the tropical Venezuelan coastal city Barcelona, spent his first freeze in Houston without power. He tried to set up his electricity days before, but the energy company didn’t accept his expired Venezuelan passport.
“I sent in my documents. Five days passed by, and I was rejected. So we had to endure it,” Jesús said in Spanish.
For Jesús, who is only being identified by his first name because of his pending immigration case, experiencing freezing weather was a new experience. His native city’s temperature rarely drops below 70 degrees.
A break in U.S-Venezuela diplomatic relations in 2019 has led to the closure of Venezuelan consulates and embassies across the country, with Houston’s growing Venezuelan population among one of the largest affected. That means the estimated 54,000 Venezuelans in Houston have nowhere to turn to renew their passport, register their newborns as Venezuelan citizens, or repatriate a relative’s remains. Without an ID, many like Jesús, can’t open a bank account, sign a lease, or set up water and electricity.