Two planes despatched by Venezuela returned dwelling Monday with almost 200 Venezuelans who have been within the U.S. illegally as a part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.
The 190 migrants returned to Venezuela indicators a doable ease in tensions between the 2 longtime adversaries and a win for the Trump administration because it seeks to have international locations take again their residents discovered within the U.S. with out authorization.
The Conviasa airline flights arrived within the Venezuelan capital of Caracas from Fort Bliss, a U.S. Military base in El Paso, Texas.
“Two planes of unlawful immigrants left El Paso at present headed to Venezuela – paid for by the Venezuelans,” Trump envoy Richard Grennell, who oversaw the deportations, wrote on X.
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Two planes despatched by Venezuela returned to the nation from El Paso, Texas, on Monday with almost 200 Venezuelans who have been within the U.S. illegally. (AP)
Deportation flights from the U.S. to Venezuela had been stopped for years, aside from a quick interval in October 2023 below the Biden administration.
Massive numbers of Venezuelans started arriving on the southern border in 2021 and are nonetheless among the many nationalities with the most individuals coming into the U.S. illegally, which has made Venezuela’s refusal to simply accept their return a significant hurdle.
Venezuela’s newfound willingness to take again the migrants got here after Grennell visited Caracas a couple of weeks in the past.
“That is the world we wish, a world of peace, understanding, dialogue and cooperation,” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stated.
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Venezuelans deported from the USA arrive at Simon Bolivar Worldwide Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP)
The Venezuelan authorities confirmed the flights earlier on Monday, criticizing in a press release the “ill-intentioned” and “false” narrative surrounding the presence of Tren de Aragua gang members within the U.S. The assertion stated most Venezuelan migrants are first rate and hard-working individuals and that American officers are trying to stigmatize the nation.
The deportation flights on Monday got here days after some unlawful aliens have been despatched to the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, the place they’re separated from 15 detainees who have been already there, together with planners within the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assault.
A federal choose in New Mexico quickly blocked the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan males to Guantánamo Bay on Sunday. Legal professionals for the trio argued that their purchasers “match the profile of these the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan males detained within the El Paso space with (false) prices of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.”
Venezuelan Inside Minister Diosdado Cabello, entrance left, walks off a aircraft that transported deportees from the USA at Simon Bolivar Worldwide Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP)
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The flights additionally got here after Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached agreements with El Salvador and Guatemala for these international locations to simply accept their residents and U.S. deportees of different nationalities.
Trump stated after Grennell’s go to that the Venezuelan authorities had agreed to simply accept “all Venezuela unlawful aliens who have been encamped within the U.S., together with gang members of Tren de Aragua,” and pay for his or her flights dwelling. Half a dozen Individuals held in Venezuela have been launched on the time.
The Related Press contributed to this report.