The United States government resumed deportation operations to Venezuela on Monday, returning 147 migrants to the South American nation in the first removal flight conducted since twin, high-magnitude earthquakes devastated the country in late June. Removals had been temporarily suspended after back-to-back earthquakes measuring above magnitude 7 struck northern coastal regions, claiming over 6,000 lives, causing extensive infrastructure destruction, and triggering severe humanitarian disruptions.
The return flight departed Miami International Airport on Monday and landed at General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport in the eastern city of Barcelona. Rerouting the charter flight to Anzoátegui state became necessary after Venezuela’s principal gateway, Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas, sustained catastrophic structural damage during the June seismic shocks and remains incapable of handling full commercial or diplomatic air traffic.
The resumption of flights follows a tragic incident linked to the final pre-earthquake deportation operation. Hours before the tremors struck in late June, a U.S. deportation flight carrying 146 Venezuelan nationals landed at Simón Bolívar International Airport. Following immigration processing, those deportees were temporarily housed at a designated hotel in La Guaira, which subsequently collapsed during the main earthquake, resulting in numerous fatalities among the recently returned migrants.
Welcoming the new arrivals at the airport in Barcelona, Mervin Maldonado, head of Venezuela’s national repatriation initiative, framed the return of the migrants as a reunion, stating that the citizens were returning home to rejoin their families, resume their education, and contribute productively to national recovery efforts. Venezuelan aviation and diplomatic officials confirmed that Monday’s arrival marked the 165th deportation charter executed under a bilateral migration agreement re-established between Washington and Caracas in early 2025.
The broader surge in U.S. deportation enforcement against Venezuelan nationals follows significant legal and political shifts over the past year. Removal operations expanded after the U.S. Supreme Court authorized the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 300,000 Venezuelans last October, stripping them of deportation protection and work authorization. Enforcements accelerated further through the spring, reaching a peak of 1,746 monthly deportations in May prior to the temporary suspension caused by the natural disaster. Operational coordination on migration management has continued to expand under acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez following the U.S. military capture of former President Nicolás Maduro earlier in the year.
