U.S. resumes deportation flights to Venezuela with more than 100 migrants on board

U.S. resumes deportation flights of Venezuelans to their economically troubled homeland. The first flight, carrying 130 passengers, was met with health tests and questions from officials. Biden's admin plans “multiple” flights a week, while Maduro's gov. blames migration on economic sanctions. People face food-price hikes, business closures and a $3.70 monthly minimum wage. The U.S. hopes the threat of deportation will deter illegal entry, while experts urge Venezuelans to apply for TPS to avoid repatriation.

Deportation flights of Venezuelans from the U.S. resumed Wednesday with a first plane of more than a hundred migrants landing back in their economically troubled country under the Biden administration's latest attempts to deal with swelling numbers of asylum-seekers.

This is the first time in years that U.S. immigration authorities are deporting people to the South American nation, marking a significant concession by the government of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro to a longtime adversary.

The first plane, a Boeing 737 jet, took off from the Texas border city of Harlingen and touched down in Miami before arriving hours later outside Caracas, Venezuela's capital. The roughly 130 passengers were Venezuelan women and men who were shuttled to the plane on buses, and wore wrist and ankle restraints. As they boarded, U.S. immigration officers patted them down.

Biden's administration said it plans to have “multiple” deportation flights a week to Venezuela, according to a U.S. Transportation Department waiver on travel restrictions, which would place Venezuela among the top international destinations for U.S. immigration authorities.

The first flight came a day after the country’s government and opposition agreed to work on electoral conditions, which triggered the U.S. Department of Treasury to announce some sanctions relief on Venezuela's oil, gas and gold mining sectors hours after the airplane landed at the airport in Maiquetia.

“I am glad that today, in compliance with the agreements discussed and signed between the authorities of Venezuela and the government of the United States, the first group of Venezuelans who have been repatriated have returned,” Maduro said during televised remarks that also addressed electoral conditions that will affect the country's 2024 presidential election.

State television showed footage of migrants in face masks exiting the plane, getting health tests and answering questions from officials at the airport near Caracas. Maduro’s government has blamed migration on economic sanctions.