In the face of pressure from the Trump administration, the Venezuelan government has agreed to resume accepting deportation flights from the U.S., according to Richard Grenell, a special envoy to President Donald Trump.
As Trump cracks down on illegal immigration, with ICE making upward of 32,000 arrests of illegals across the country, some Latin American countries have refused to accept returns.
Grenell announced Thursday the Venezuelan government, led by socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, had agreed to resume the flights.
Maduro had previously threatened to halt deportation flights after Trump’s decision to revoke a Biden-era special license allowing U.S.-based Chevron to produce and sell oil from the country.
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“I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered the U.S. illegally,” Grenell said on X.
Deportation flights to Venezuela will resume Friday, according to Grenell’s post.
Venezuela is home to one of the most notorious migrant gangs in the U.S., Tren de Aragua, members of which have been among the administration’s primary targets for deportation.
John Fabbricatore, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital this development will help improve the administration’s deportation operation.
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“President Trump has continued to work diligently to ensure that deportation flights continue to countries that have been recalcitrant in the past,” said Fabbricatore. “Venezuela’s acceptance of these flights allows for a smooth deportation process and shorter, overall detention time.”
During his first term, Trump pursued a “maximum pressure” sanctions policy against Maduro’s government, especially targeting Venezuela’s energy business. Trump imposed heavy oil sanctions against Venezuela in 2019, but those sanctions were then relaxed by President Joe Biden.
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Trump detailed the decision in a post on Truth Social, stating that Maduro had not upheld his end of the bargain.
“We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement,” he wrote.
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“The regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to,” he added. “I am therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden “Concession Agreement” be terminated as of the March 1st option to renew.”
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The Trump administration scored another significant diplomatic victory with Venezuela in January when Grenell visited Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city, and secured the release of six American citizens who were being held by the dictatorship on espionage and terrorism-related charges.
Reuters reported last week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined Maduro’s government is still holding nine Americans hostage under “questionable circumstances and without respect for their rights.”
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