On Monday, two planes provided by Venezuela brought back almost 200 Venezuelans who were residing in the U.S. without legal permission, in line with President Donald Trump’s large-scale deportation strategy.
The return of the 190 migrants to Venezuela could indicate a potential reduction in tension between the two countries with a history of conflict, and it can be seen as a victory for the Trump administration’s efforts to have nations repatriate their citizens who are discovered in the U.S. without proper authorization.
The Conviasa airline flights arrived in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas from Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army base in El Paso, Texas.
“Today, two aircraft carrying individuals who entered the U.S. unlawfully departed from El Paso en route to Venezuela – all expenses covered by the Venezuelan government,” explained Richard Grennell, a representative of the Trump administration who was responsible for managing the deportations, on X site.
Venezuelans deported from the United States arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP)
The Venezuelan government confirmed the flights earlier on Monday, criticizing in a statement the “ill-intentioned” and “false” narrative surrounding the presence of Tren de Aragua gang members in the U.S. The statement said most Venezuelan migrants are decent and hard-working people and that American officials are attempting to stigmatize the country.
The deportation flights on Monday came days after some illegal aliens were sent to the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp, where they are separated from 15 detainees who were already there, including planners in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
A federal judge in New Mexico temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan men to Guantánamo Bay on Sunday. Lawyers for the trio argued that their clients “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 Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, front left, walks off a plane that transported deportees from the United States at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (AP)
The flights also came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached agreements with El Salvador and Guatemala for those countries to accept their citizens and U.S. deportees of other nationalities.
Trump said after Grennell’s visit that the Venezuelan government had agreed to accept “all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” and pay for their flights home. Half a dozen Americans held in Venezuela were released at the time.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
