Venezuela resumes migrant repatriation in renewed Trump administration deal

By Gizem Nisa Cebi

ISTANBUL (AA) - Venezuela will resume accepting deported nationals from the US following a renewed agreement with the Trump administration, President Nicolas Maduro announced Saturday.

"Tomorrow, thanks to the government’s perseverance, we’ll resume flights to continue rescuing and freeing migrants from prisons in the United States," Maduro said in a televised address, BBC reported.

The agreement follows a months-long standoff after Venezuela initially halted repatriation flights in March. The suspension came after the US Treasury Department revoked Chevron’s license to export Venezuelan oil, a move that drew sharp condemnation from Caracas.

The Trump administration’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, had brokered the initial repatriation deal, which US President Donald Trump touted as a significant step in curbing illegal migration.

"Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the US, including gang members of Tren de Aragua," Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social at the time. "Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back."

However, after Maduro’s government halted deportation flights, the Trump administration on March 15 deported 238 Venezuelans -- alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang -- to El Salvador, where they were subsequently detained in a high-security prison. The US has not disclosed the identities of those deported or provided evidence of their alleged criminal ties.

Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, confirmed that the latest deal aims to secure "the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights."

"Migrating isn’t a crime, and we won’t rest until everyone who wants to return is back and we rescue our kidnapped brothers in El Salvador," Rodriguez said in a statement Saturday.

The deportations have sparked legal battles in Washington. A federal judge, James Boesberg, attempted to block flights to El Salvador under a verbal order, arguing that Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to justify the deportations raised legal concerns. However, the flights proceeded, and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele responded on social media that the intervention came "too late."

The White House has denied accusations that it defied the judge’s order. Boesberg has since demanded further clarification from US government lawyers, with a legal hearing scheduled for next week.