(The Center Square) – Within about three weeks of being in office, the Trump administration has begun repatriation flights of Venezuelans who were illegally in the U.S. The administration also negotiated for Venezuela to pay for their return.
President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions Richard Grenell announced two planes left El Paso, Texas, Monday for Venezuela, “paid for by the Venezuelans.”
The White House also posted a photo of the flights on social media saying, “Repatriation flights to Venezuela have resumed, with Ambassador Richard Grenell overseeing the first two flights.”
After a diplomatic mission to Venezuela on Jan. 31, Grenell announced that Venezuela’s president “agreed to take back all the illegal immigrants in the U.S. from Venezuela – and pay for it! Thanks to Donald Trump.”
Trump also posted on Truth Social that “Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the US, including gang members of Tren de Aragua. Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back. We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all countries, and all countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back. Furthermore, record numbers of criminals are being removed from our country, and the border numbers are the strongest they have been since the first term of the Trump administration.”
The repatriation flights began after Grenell traveled to Venezuela to bring home six Americans who were being held in Venezuelan prisons, The Center Square reported.
The flights and agreement from Venezuela are a marked reversal from Biden administration policies, which didn’t include negotiating with countries that refused to take back their own citizens, including Venezuela. The U.S. deportation process relies on diplomatic relations, including confirming citizenship, implementing visa processes and processing documentation to receive citizens, including those wanted by foreign authorities for crimes.
Under the Biden administration, a record more than 1 million Venezuelans illegally entered the U.S., including violent TdA members who expanded operations in at least 22 states, The Center Square first reported. TdA members are known for committing extreme acts of violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking.
Instead of processing them for removal, the administration granted many temporary protective status to prevent immediate deportation or enrolled them in a range of parole programs, which federal judges ruled, and Republicans in Congress argued, were illegal.
Days before Trump took office, outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was impeached by House Republicans for implementing these policies, issued sweeping immigration orders expanding illegal entry into the U.S.
On Trump’s first day in office, he rescinded Biden administration orders, including the parole program and temporary protective status created for Venezuelans. He also designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, declared an invasion and national emergency at the southern border, and directed the U.S. military to participate in border security efforts.
The Biden administration had granted TPS to roughly 600,000 Venezuelans and released 117,320 Venezuelans through parole, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data from December.
Now they are in the process of being sent back to Venezuela at the expense of the Venezuelan government.
By Feb. 4, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense transported 10 high-threat confirmed TdA members to Guantanamo Bay, The Center Square reported. More are expected to be sent there prior to being repatriated to Venezuela.
