- A pair of planes sent by Venezuela returned home with nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants who were in the United States illegally. The flights were part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort.
- Trump envoy Richard Grennell, who oversaw the deportations, posted on the social media platform X, writing that the flights were “paid for by Venezuelans.”
- The planes reportedly departed from Fort Bliss, a military base, in El Paso, Texas, and arrived in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday.
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A pair of planes sent by Venezuela returned home with nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants who were in the United States illegally. The flights were part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, which he began shortly after he began his second term.
The planes reportedly carried about 190 Venezuelan migrants. The planes departed from Fort Bliss, a military base, in El Paso, Texas, and arrived in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, on Monday, Feb. 10.
Trump envoy Richard Grennell, who oversaw the deportations, posted on the social media platform X. In the post, he wrote that the flights were “paid for by Venezuelans.”
Venezuelan migrants have arrived at the southern border since 2021. They are among the nationalities with the most migrants entering the United States through illegal border crossings.
How is Venezuela’s government responding?
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro responded to the flights.
“This is the world we want, a world of peace, understanding and dialogue and cooperation,” Maduro said.
The Venezuelan government, however, has criticized the narratives of the Trump administration. It says the administration’s notions of the presence of Tren de Aragua members in the U.S. are “ill-intentioned” and “false.” The Venezuelan government said most Venezuelan migrants are industrious and decent people who the U.S. government has stigmatized.
What is the bigger picture?
As Straight Arrow News has previously reported, the deportation flights come days after some migrants living illegally in the U.S. were flown to Guantánamo Bay.
The flights also follow a U.S. federal judge’s temporary order against the Trump administration. The order blocks the administration from sending three Venezuelan men to the U.S. military base in Cuba.
