Maiquetía (Venezuela) (AFP) – Some 130 Venezuelan migrants arrived back home Wednesday on a chartered plane from the United States on the first such deportation flight following an agreement between the two non-friendly governments.
The flight from Texas arrived at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas, bearing adult men and women traveling alone, no families.
“The individuals on this flight…range from those who have just entered our borders unlawfully to those that have been in the country a while and committed criminal acts,” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Corey Price told reporters before the flight’s departure from Texas.
“This flight to Venezuela is the first I’ve seen in my career of an entire charter flight of Venezuelans going back to their country, and we plan on having several more of these in the coming days and weeks.”
Until the agreement this month between the White House and President Nicolas Maduro — whose 2018 reelection Washington does not recognize — Venezuelan migrants were deported on commercial flights, small numbers at a time mixed in with ordinary passengers.
This was the first plane since the deal that was chartered for the sole purpose of returning a large group of migrants to Venezuela.
The agreement provides for the “orderly, safe and legal repatriation” of undocumented Venezuelan migrants.
The dozens on Wednesday’s first flight climbed the steps to the plane one by one, with chains on their ankles and wrists that were removed once on board.All wore face masks, their meager belongings packed into white and orange plastic bags.
They had been earmarked for “expedited removal,” after the deal with Venezuela, and were being “removed within a matter of days and weeks, as opposed to years like you’ve seen in the past,” said Price.
One passenger fell ill during boarding and was evacuated by ambulance, officials said, to be repatriated at a later date.
– ‘Just the beginning’ –
President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for re-election in 2024, is under pressure from Republicans, and some in his own party, over the problem of illegal migration to the United States, mainly from Latin American countries.
The problem has persisted despite the barbed wire fence erected by Texas on its border with Mexico, and the soldiers deployed there.
The administration recently offered protection from deportation to 472,000 Venezuelans to allow them to obtain residence and work permits within 18 months — although this would apply only to those who arrived before July 31 this year.
Biden has vowed to limit the separation of migrant families, a practice that was common under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Price said the United States sends migrants back home, mainly to Central and South America, on about 70 flights every week.
US Border Police chief Jason Owens urged would-be migrants to use legal pathways.
“These are the consequences for entering our country unlawfully,” he said.
“This is just the beginning.Our intent is to increase these flights.”
