U.S. flies over 100 Venezuelan migrants back after deadly earthquakes

This week the United States resumed large-scale deportation flights to Venezuela, delivering 147 Venezuelan nationals to General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport in Barcelona. The operation is the first major removal since the back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes in June that caused over 6,000 deaths and widespread devastation. Venezuelan officials posted that the migrants were welcomed with dignity and all necessary protocols were observed.

The Department of Homeland Security said it would not confirm any further removal plans for security reasons. The flights come after Venezuela’s interim government, pressured by the United States, agreed to expand deportation capacity to up to three weekly flights, a shift that followed the Trump era’s termination of temporary protected status and humanitarian parole for many Venezuelans. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants had previously fled economic collapse and political repression, undertaking risky journeys to the U.S. border. Hours before the earthquakes, more than 100 of those migrants had arrived from Miami and were placed in a hotel that later collapsed, trapping them; neither passenger lists nor casualty figures have been released.