Officials say Colombia turned away two U.S. military flights carrying deported migrants
Author: Phil Stewart and Oliver Griffin
WASHINGTON/BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia turned away two U.S. military planes carrying deported migrants on Sunday as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, a U.S. official said, marking at least the first time in the Latin American country that Rejection of U.S. military deportation flight for second time.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has condemned the practice, saying it treats migrants like criminals. Petro said in a post on the social media platform
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Colombia’s decision follows that of Mexico, which also rejected a request last week to allow U.S. military planes to land with migrants.
“The United States cannot treat Colombian immigrants as criminals,” Petro wrote, noting that 15,660 Americans in Colombia do not have proper immigration status.
Petro’s comments added to rising discontent in Latin America as the Trump administration begins mobilizing mass deportations.
Brazil’s foreign ministry late on Saturday condemned the “degrading treatment” of Brazilians after they were handcuffed on a commercial deportation flight. Upon arrival, some passengers also reported being mistreated during the flight, according to local news reports.
The plane, carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 U.S. security personnel and eight crew members, was scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
There, Brazilian officials ordered the handcuffs to be removed and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) aircraft to complete their journey, the government said in a statement on Saturday. .
According to Brazilian federal police, this is the second commercial charter flight from the United States to deport undocumented immigrants to Brazil this year and the first since Trump took office.
Officials at the State Department, Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The use of U.S. military aircraft for deportation flights is part of the Pentagon’s response to Trump’s declaration of a national immigration emergency on Monday.
In the past, U.S. military aircraft have been used to move people from one country to another, such as during the 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
A U.S. official said it was the first time in recent years that U.S. military aircraft had flown migrants out of the country.
On Friday, U.S. military aircraft carried out two similar flights, each carrying about 80 migrants, to Guatemala.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington, D.C., and Oliver Griffin in Bogotá; Additional reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Margarita Choi)
