Richard Grenell is a Special Envoy for President Donald Trump. He said that the Venezuelan Government has decided to accept deportation flights again from the U.S.
Some Latin American countries refuse to accept illegal immigrants as Trump clamps down, and ICE makes up to 32,000 arrests across the United States.
Grenell said Thursday that the Venezuelan Government, headed by the socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, had agreed to the return of flights.
Maduro previously had threatened to stop deportation flights following Trump’s decision revocation of a special license granted by Biden to U.S.-based Chevron for the production and sale of oil in Venezuela.
Grenell stated on X, “I’m pleased to report that Venezuelan officials have agreed to resume their flights to retrieve Venezuelan citizens who violated U.S. Immigration Laws by entering the U.S. without permission.”
According to Grenell, deportation flights from Venezuela are to resume on Friday.
The Venezuelan government has been targeting members of one of America’s most notorious immigrant gangs, the Tren de Aragua.
John Fabbricatore is a visiting fellow with the Border Security and Immigration Center of the Heritage Foundation. He said this new development would help the deportation operations under the Obama administration.
Fabbricatore said that President Trump had continued to make efforts to continue deportation flights to countries that have previously been resistant. The fact that Venezuela has accepted these flights makes the deportation and detention process easier.
Trump’s first term was marked by a policy of “maximum pressure” against Maduro, focusing on Venezuela’s oil business. Trump had imposed severe oil sanctions on Venezuela, but these sanctions were later relaxed by President Joe Biden.
Trump explained the decision on Truth Social. He stated that Maduro did not keep his side of the deal.
He wrote: “We reverse the concessions made by Crooked Joe Biden to Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela on the oil deal agreement.”
He added, “The regime is not transporting violent criminals they have sent to our Country (the Good Ole’ USA) to Venezuela as quickly as they agreed. I am ordering the termination of the Biden ‘Concession Agreement, ‘ which is ineffective and has not been met, as per the option for renewal on March 1.”
In January, the Trump administration achieved another diplomatic success with Venezuela when Grenell traveled to Caracas and was able to secure the release of six American citizens being held in Venezuela on charges of terrorism and espionage.
Reuters reported that Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, had determined last week that Maduro’s government was still holding 9 Americans as hostages under “questionable conditions and without respecting their rights.”
