Two Venezuelan planes carrying approximately 190 deported migrants arrived in Caracas from the United States on Monday, marking a significant shift in relations between the two nations and a policy victory for President Donald Trump as he pushes for stricter immigration enforcement.
Deportation flights to Venezuela had been largely suspended for years, except for a brief period in October 2023 under the Biden administration. Since 2021, Venezuelans have been among the largest groups crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, making their country’s longstanding refusal to accept deportees a major challenge for U.S. immigration policy.
The breakthrough came after a visit to Caracas earlier this month by Trump envoy Richard Grennell, who facilitated negotiations with the Venezuelan government.
“Flights of Illegal Aliens to Venezuela Resume,” the White House announced Monday in a post on the social platform X, stating that Grennell oversaw the process.
Venezuelan state television triumphantly covered the arrival of the Conviasa flights from Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army base in El Paso, Texas. President Nicolás Maduro framed the event as a diplomatic success, stating, “This is the world we want, a world of peace, understanding, dialogue, and cooperation.”
In an official statement, the Venezuelan government criticized what it called an “ill-intentioned” and “false” narrative surrounding the presence of Tren de Aragua gang members in the U.S. It emphasized that most Venezuelan migrants are hardworking and law-abiding, accusing U.S. officials of unfairly stigmatizing them.
Monday’s flights followed the first transfers of migrants to a U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and agreements reached by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio with El Salvador and Guatemala to accept non-citizen deportees.
However, legal challenges have already emerged. On Sunday, a federal judge in New Mexico preemptively blocked the transfer of three Venezuelan men to Guantanamo Bay. Lawyers for the men argued that they had been unfairly targeted due to alleged—and, they claim, false—connections to the Tren de Aragua gang.
Following Grennell’s visit, Trump announced that the Maduro government had agreed to accept “all Venezuelan illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” and that Venezuela would cover the cost of their transportation. Additionally, six Americans detained in Venezuela were released as part of the negotiations.
In its Monday statement, the Venezuelan government did not comment on whether additional deportation flights would take place.
