Venezuela Resumes Accepting Deportation Flights From U.S. Amid Diplomatic Shift

The first of deportation flights transporting Venezuelan migrants back from America landed near the capital city of Caracas late Sunday after the two countries reached an agreement to resume repatriation.The flights resumed after President Maduro of Venezuela suspended them on March 8 when the U.S. Treasury Department announced that Chevron’s license to export oil from the South American country had been suspended, according to CBS News.“We have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday,” Jorge Rodríguez, who is president of Venezuela’s Assembly and Mr. Maduro’s chief negotiator with America, said, adding that they finally accepted the deal to secure, “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights.”Officials in Washington confirmed that the flight, carrying nearly 200 migrants, had arrived in La Guaira via a connection in Honduras.“Today, deportation flights of Venezuelan illegal aliens to their homeland resumed via Honduras. These individuals had no legal basis to remain in the United States,” reads a statement posted on X by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. “We expect to see a consistent flow of deportation flights to Venezuela going forward. Thank you to Honduran President [Xiomara] Castro and her government for partnering to combat illegal immigration.”The Venezuelan government’s willingness to once again accept repatriation flights comes after condemning the Trump Administration’s recent use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to a prison in El Salvador.Mr. Trump alleged that those deportees were members of the Tren de Aragua gang before invoking the Alien Enemies Act, a little-used law from the 18th century that allows a president to deport any non-citizen during wartime. It was not clear how many, if any, of those sent to El Salvador were members of the notorious gang.“Migration is not a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who need it and until we rescue our brothers and sisters kidnapped in El Salvador,” Mr. Rodríguez also mentioned in his statement over the weekend.

Venezuela Resumes Accepting Deportation Flights From U.S. Amid Diplomatic Shift

Venezuela Resumes Accepting Deportation Flights From U.S. Amid Diplomatic Shift

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