Biden admin. deports more than 100 Venezuelan migrants

The first deportation flight to Venezuela landed on Wednesday, Oct. 18, in Caracas under Biden’s new directive as the administration grapples with a record number of illegal border crossings. Venezuelan men and women were seen being escorted onto a charter plane in Harlington, TX while wearing shackles.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said about 130 people in all were deported back to Venezuela in the first flight. The first wave of deportations comes less than two weeks after the Biden administration announced it would resume the deportation of Venezuelan migrants.

On Thursday, Oct. 5, a White House official said the administration was restarting the deportation effort to “show how we are committed to imposing consequences on those who cross the border unlawfully.”

The Biden administration has been trying to deal with the record number of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have made the dangerous journey to the U.S. in search of better living conditions, hoping to escape their economically depressed country.

Panamanian officials said more than 400,000 Venezuelan migrants have crossed the dangerous Darién Gap jungle on their way to the U.S. this year. That number is up from 250,000 in all of 2022.

The Biden administration has reported that more than 380,000 Venezuelans have crossed into the U.S. illegally since he took office.

The first deportation also comes weeks after Biden granted an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for nearly half a million Venezuelans already living in the U.S. as of July 31.

The Biden administration said the plan is to have “multiple” deportation flights to Venezuela each week and hopes that the deportations will get other migrants to reconsider crossing into the U.S. illegally.