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 potential 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 illegal immigrants left El Paso today headed to Venezuela – paid for by the Venezuelans,” Trump envoy Richard Grennell, who oversaw the deportations, wrote on X.
FEDERAL COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM SENDING DETAINED VENEZUELAN IMMIGRANTS TO GUANTÁNAMO BAY
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, apart from a quick interval in October 2023 underneath the Biden administration.
Giant 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 just accept their return a significant hurdle.
Venezuela’s newfound willingness to take again the migrants got here after Grennell visited Caracas a number of weeks in the past.
“This is the world we want, a world of peace, understanding, dialogue and cooperation,” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro mentioned.
TRUMP DEPORTING CRIMINAL ALIENS TO GUANTANAMO BAY: MEET THE HARDENED TERRORISTS THEY’LL JOIN
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 an announcement the “ill-intentioned” and “false” narrative surrounding the presence of Tren de Aragua gang members within the U.S. The assertion mentioned most Venezuelan migrants are respectable and hard-working individuals and that American officers try 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 shoppers “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges 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)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The flights additionally got here after Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached agreements with El Salvador and Guatemala for these international locations to just accept their residents and U.S. deportees of different nationalities.
Trump mentioned after Grennell’s go to that the Venezuelan authorities had agreed to just accept “all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including 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.
