(CNN) — The United States sent back more than 100 Venezuelans on a repatriation flight on Monday, the first time since deadly earthquakes ravaged the South American nation in late June.
The Trump administration had been deporting hundreds of Venezuelans per week prior to June, but its deportation drive came to a halt after back-to-back over 7-magnitude earthquakes killed more than 6,000 people, and laid waste to swathes of the country.
The last flight carrying 146 Venezuelans landed in Venezuela just hours before the disaster struck. Many of those on that flight were killed when a hotel they were being housed at collapsed in the quake.
On Monday, a plane with 147 Venezuelan migrants abroad took off from the Miami and landed in Anzoátegui state, CNNE reported.
The flight landed at General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport in the city of Barcelona. The last flight before the quake landed at the country’s main Simón Bolívar International Airport, which sustained significant damage during the tremor.
The Department of Homeland Security said “ICE successfully conducted a removal flight.”
“For operational security reasons, we would not confirm future removal operations,” the spokesperson said Tuesday.
In a social media post, Mervin Maldonado, head of the repatriation program on the Venezuelan side, welcomed the migrants, saying they are “returning home, to reunite with their families, to continue their education, to be productive, and to contribute to national development.”
Fleeing an economic crisis and political repression back home, many Venezuelans have risked their lives on treacherous journeys to reach the US.
But in October last year, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 300,000 Venezuelan migrants, who were permitted entry under a humanitarian relief program.
Since then, the US had been deporting hundreds of people per week to Venezuela, with 1,746 Venezuelans deported in May, a month before the deadly earthquakes struck, according to ICE Flight Monitor.
After the Trump administration seized President Nicolás Maduro in a deadly military operation in January, deportation flights were scaled up under acting President Delcy Rodríguez.
According to the Venezuelan repatriation program, Monday’s flight was the 165th since early 2025, when Caracas and Washington resumed deportation flights as part of a migration agreement.
Venezuela now faces a multi-year recovery following the twin quakes which have left whole regions of the country devastated and caused an economic hit equivalent to 6% of the country’s GDP, according to the United Nations Development Programme.
Since Maduro’s capture, his former deputy Rodríguez has set about restoring diplomatic relations with the US – opening up her country’s oil sector to US investment, releasing some political prisoners and aligning her government with Washington’s regional projects.
The-CNN-Wire
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