Venezuelan migrants restrained like criminals and repatriated to South American communist dictatorship

U.S. immigration authorities transported more than 100 Venezuelans back to the communist dictatorship on Wednesday as the Biden administration resumed deportation flights back to the South American country.

The flights mark a shift in policy since it has been years since such flights took place.

Earlier this month, Homeland Security officials announced that the agency would be repatriating Venezuelans back to their native country as part of an campaign to message their compatriots not to emigrate to the U.S.

The deportations coincide with the signing of a controversial negotiation between the two countries in which the Maduro regime has pledged to allow international observers to monitor the upcoming 2024 presidential elections in exchange for the U.S. to ease oil sanctions.

As that deal came to a close in Barbados earlier this week, Venezuelan authorities have also pledged to accept the return of some of their nationals.

“This flight to Venezuela is the first I’ve seen in my career of an entire charter flight of Venezuelans going back to their country,” Corey Price, an acting executive associate director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an interview with the Associated Press.

“And we plan on having several more of these in the coming days and weeks,” he explained.

A Thursday morning report published by the New York Post said that about 130 migrants were transported on Wednesday’s first flight.

The Venezuelans were repatriated on an ICE Air Boeing 737 jet that was chartered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The flight departed from the Texas border town of Harlingen with a layover in Miami before it flew across the Caribbean to the communist country’s capital city of Caracas. 

The flight was exclusively reserved for migrants, and all those being repatriated unlawfully crossed into the U.S. between ports of entry, according to Border Patrol.

The migrants were forced to wear both ankle and wrist restraints and were patted down as they boarded the jet, much like prisoners.

While the specific background of the Venezuelans on this flight are unknown, ICE has said it is prioritizing the deportation of illegal border crossers who have committed crimes in the U.S.

Since President Biden assumed the presidency in January 2021, nearly a half-million Venezuelans have illegally crossed the southwest border.

There were more than 34,000 arrests in April and more than 31,000 stops recorded in August.

An estimated 200,000 Venezuelans unlawfully entered the U.S. from the southwest in the most recent 11 months, according to CBP data.

The president recently used his executive power to extend temporary protected status (TPS) to about 472,000 Venezuelan migrants who arrived in the U.S. by July 31 of this year.

The TPS status will allow those Venezuelans to remain and even work legally in the U.S. during while their applications are reviewed and processed.

Rachel Leon, an immigration attorney in Florida, told the AP that those who have not applied for the TPS status, should.

“Venezuelans who have not applied for TPS and have deportation orders could be affected,” she told the Associated Press.

“Those who are eligible for TPS should apply as soon as possible to avoid facing deportation.”