DHS Resumes Direct Repatriations of Venezuelan Nationals

NEW: The U.S., led by DHS, with support from @ICEgov & @CBP, facilitated the first charter flight to Venezuela as part of other routine ICE removal flights conducted throughout the hemisphere and around the world. Learn more: https://t.co/6a3z589Rst pic.twitter.com/NjptIDFjUu

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 18, 2023

Here is the Department of Homeland Security statement issued yesterday:  “Today, the United States, led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, facilitated the first charter flight to Venezuela as part of other routine ICE removal flights conducted throughout the hemisphere and around the world. DHS continues to enforce United States immigration laws while strengthening the consequences for those who cross our border unlawfully.”

As the Associated Press reported,

“Deportation flights of Venezuelans from the U.S. resumed Wednesday with a first plane of more than a hundred migrants landing back in their economically troubled country under the Biden administration’s latest attempts to deal with swelling numbers of asylum-seekers.

This is the first time in years that U.S. immigration authorities are deporting people to the South American nation, marking a significant concession by the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro to a longtime adversary.”

KJ