Colombia turns away two US military flights with deportees
Colombia turned away two US military planes carrying migrants deported as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown on Sunday, according to a US official, in at least the second instance of a Latin American country blocking US military deportation flights.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro denounced the practice, claiming it treated migrants as criminals. In a post on X, he said his country would welcome deported migrants back on civilian flights, asserting that they should be treated with decency.
The decision mirrors that of Mexico, which declined a request last week to allow a US military aircraft to land with migrants.
"The U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals," Petro wrote, noting that there were 15,660 Americans with improper immigration status in Colombia.
Petro's words add to the increased concern in Latin America as Trump's government prepares for mass deportations.
Late on Saturday, Brazil's foreign ministry decried the "degrading treatment" of Brazilian migrants after they were shackled aboard a commercial deportation aircraft amid reports of abuse onboard.
According to Brazil's federal police, the commercial charter aircraft carrying 88 Brazilians was the second from the US this year and the first since Trump took office.
This is the first time recently that US military planes have been used to carry migrants out of the nation, according to a US official. On Friday, US military planes flew to Guatemala twice, each flight carrying around 80 migrants.
The move underscores the Trump administration's firm stance on immigration. According to previous reports by Reuters, Trump is expected to mobilize government agencies nationwide to achieve record deportation numbers, building on his first-term efforts to leverage all available resources and pressure so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions into compliance.
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