Deportation Flights of Venezuelans Resume After Year Long Hiatus

The Biden administration has resumed deportation flights of Venezuelans from the US, marking a significant concession by the government of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro.

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

First Deportation Flight in Years

This is the first time in years that US 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.

The First Plane

The first plane, a Boeing 737 jet, took off from the Texas border city of Harlingen and touched down in Miami before arriving hours later outside Caracas, Venezuela's capital. The roughly 130 passengers were Venezuelan women and men who were shuttled to the plane on buses and wore wrist and ankle restraints. As they boarded, US immigration officers patted them down.

Priority for Deportation

Corey Price, an acting executive associate director for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said, "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."

Price said those who were prioritized for the flights include recent arrivals as well as migrants who have committed crimes in the US. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said the passengers had illegally entered the US between ports of entry.

Multiple Deportation Flights Planned

The Biden administration said it plans to have "multiple" deportation flights a week to Venezuela, according to a US Transportation Department waiver on travel restrictions, which would place Venezuela among the top international destinations for US immigration authorities. The government employs a fleet of charter carriers known collectively as ICE Air.

Complex Social, Political, and Economic Crises in Venezuela

The deportees will find a homeland that is still in the midst of complex social, political, and economic crises. The situation has evolved since a global drop in the price of oil — Venezuela's most valuable resource — a decade ago and mismanagement by the self-proclaimed socialist government pushed the country into a downward spiral. People are grappling with constant food-price hikes and business closures, and workers try to meet their needs with a monthly minimum wage of USD 3.70 that's barely enough to buy a gallon of water.

Eligibility for Deportation

Using charter airlines though, these flights, which typically carry 135 migrants, will fly to Venezuela from unspecified airports in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security. They will be for Venezuelans who have received final removal orders, which are issued after losing an asylum bid or to those who weren't able to seek humanitarian protection.

Response to Increase in Migration

The flights are in response to an increase in migration from Venezuela that is straining immigration systems throughout the hemisphere — including in the United States," the Transportation Department said in its waiver.

US-Venezuela Diplomatic Relations

The US has struggled for years to deport people to countries with which it has strained diplomatic relations, including Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. After a hiatus of more than two years, Cuba allowed for the resumption of US deportations in April, with deportation flights there operating only about once a month.

Temporary Legal Status for Venezuelans

The restart of the deportation flights takes place just weeks after the Biden administration announced that it is granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans that have arrived in the US by July 31. The temporary status makes it easier for them to get work authorization and stop deportation orders. Experts and immigration attorneys are urging Venezuelans to apply to TPS to prevent their repatriation.

The resumption of deportation flights from the US to Venezuela marks a significant development in the ongoing immigration crisis. The flights are expected to continue in the coming weeks and months, and it remains to be seen how they will impact the flow of migrants from Venezuela to the United States.