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Trump Claims Venezuela Has Agreed to Repatriate Illegal Immigrants and Cover Transportation Costs


According to the president, this includes members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela has consented to accept all undocumented Venezuelan immigrants apprehended in the United States and will ensure their transportation back to Venezuela.

“Venezuela has agreed to take back all undocumented aliens from their country who have been residing in the U.S., including members of the Tren de Aragua gang,” Trump stated in a post on Truth Social. “Additionally, Venezuela has agreed to provide transportation back home.”

This statement came after U.S. special envoy Richard Grenell met with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on January 31, during which he returned with six American citizens who had been detained in Venezuela, as evidenced by photos he shared on social media.

“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens. They just spoke to [Trump] and couldn’t stop thanking him,” Grenell reported in a post on X on January 31.

In his February 1 post, Trump also referenced the six Americans, saying, “It is so good to have the Venezuela hostages back home.”

However, the White House clarified that this high-level meeting does not signify U.S. recognition of Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The U.S. State Department declared the outcome of the disputed election in July of the previous year as illegitimate. The recent history of relations between the two nations has been marked by tensions, sanctions, and further accusations, with Maduro recently threatening to invade Puerto Rico.
In a related development, Colombian officials announced last week that they would also take back their citizens who are residing illegally in the United States following negotiations between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro regarding U.S. military deportation flights. Although both threatened to impose tariffs, a deal was subsequently reached, and officials confirmed that deportation flights have resumed.

“We are in the process of removing unprecedented numbers of illegal immigrants from all countries, and every country has agreed to accept their illegal immigrants back,” Trump added in his Saturday post. “Moreover, record numbers of criminals are being expelled from our country, and border apprehension numbers are at their highest since my initial term in office!”

A significant aspect of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign revolved around the mass deportation of illegal immigrants from the United States.

Since taking office on January 20, the president has enacted several executive orders concerning immigration and border security, such as attempting to terminate birthright citizenship—an effort later halted by a judge—declaring a national emergency at the border, discontinuing an app that allowed illegal immigrants to make appointments with federal officials, and conducting immigration raids in various major cities, among other actions.

Last month, Trump designated the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 transnational gangs, along with Mexican drug cartels, as foreign terrorist organizations.

During a news conference on January 29, Trump stated that his administration is now preparing to transfer the “most dangerous criminal aliens” to the Guantanamo Bay naval base and detention facility. He instructed the Pentagon to be ready to detain up to 30,000 criminal aliens, citing concerns about their potential return after deportation.

“Some of them are so dangerous that we don’t even have faith in their own countries to contain them, so we’re going to send them to Guantanamo,” Trump remarked.

Additionally, his administration plans to revoke federal funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that assist in facilitating illegal immigration, as confirmed by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week.

This report includes contributions from the Associated Press.



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