First deportation flight to arrive in Venezuela from US, after countries agree to resume repatriations

The first flight carrying Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States is on its way to Venezuela, after the two governments reached an agreement to resume repatriation flights.

The first flight carrying Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States is on its way to Venezuela, after the two governments reached an agreement Saturday to resume repatriation flights. The US Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs confirmed the flight departed from the US and stopped in Honduras, where a change of planes took place. “Today, deportation flights of Venezuelan illegal aliens to their homeland resumed via Honduras,” the department wrote on X. “These individuals had no legal basis to remain in the United States. We expect to see a consistent flow of deportation flights to Venezuela going forward. Thank you to Honduran President Castro and her government for partnering to combat illegal immigration.” Honduras’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs said 199 citizens of Venezuelan origin were on the flight. The transfer took three and a half hours and occurred “in an orderly and safe manner,” Enrique Reina said in a post on X. Following the transfer the “Venezuelan-flagged vessel departed for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” said Reina. It is expected to land at an airfield near Caracas in the coming hours.