U.S. Deportation Flight Sends 192 Venezuelans Back Amid Post-Earthquake Crisis

A new repatriation flight from the United States landed in Venezuela this week as the country continues to deal with the aftermath of two powerful earthquakes that damaged infrastructure and disrupted basic services.

According to a statement from Venezuela’s Interior Ministry, Flight 166 carried 192 Venezuelan citizens: 99 men, 32 women, 38 boys and 23 girls.

It was the second repatriation flight since the earthquakes. Flight 165 arrived on August 3 with 147 Venezuelans, traveling from Miami to Anzoátegui International Airport in Barcelona, which was being used as an alternative to the damaged Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas, according to El Diario.

The arrival of another group of returnees comes amid continuing questions from family members and migrant-rights advocates about what happens to Venezuelans after they land.

María Elena Ramírez, a relative of a passenger on Flight 165, told the Miami Herald’s Spanish-language sister publication El Nuevo Herald that she had been unable to reach her brother-in-law, Domingo Alexander Pinto, who had lived in the United States for more than four years before his return. Pinto was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on May 28 during a routine compliance check.

Ramírez said an official from Gran Misión Vuelta a la Patria, Venezuela’s repatriation program, contacted her on the afternoon of August 3 to tell her Pinto had arrived in Barcelona at Anzoátegui International Airport. But she said she was not permitted to speak directly with him.

“I asked if he could call him, or let me know so I could reach him, because I wanted to talk to him. He told me, ‘No, ma’am, that’s not possible,’ and hung up,” she said.

The family had still not been able to reach Pinto directly at the time of the report.

Concern about the safety of returnees also follows an earlier incident involving Flight 164. BBC Mundo reported that 146 Venezuelans, including seven children, were taken to a reception building after arriving at Maiquetía International Airport. The building collapsed approximately six hours after their arrival during the earthquakes.

BBC Mundo reported that Venezuelan authorities had not released an updated official account of the fate of the Flight 164 passengers. At least 12 survivors had been identified through relatives and testimony collected by the BBC at the time of its report. Survivors described digging through rubble and sharing limited water after the collapse.

BBC Mundo also sought comment from U.S. authorities about Flight 164. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said the flight had “arrived safely” and that federal responsibility ends once a deportee is no longer in ICE custody.

The continuation of deportation flights has drawn criticism from migrant and human-rights advocates.

José Antonio Colina, president of the Miami-based Venezolanos Perseguidos Políticos en el Exilio (Politically Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile, or VEPPEX), told N+ Univision that resuming the flights amid the humanitarian emergency was irresponsible. He also warned that some returnees could face harassment or political persecution by Venezuelan security services.

Carolina Jiménez Sandoval, Andes director at the Washington Office on Latin America, has similarly raised concerns about returning Venezuelans under the current conditions and about the arrangements for receiving them, according to The New York Times.

For Ramírez and her family, the uncertainty is more immediate. They have been told that Pinto is back in Venezuela, but at the time of the report, his family had still not been able to contact him directly.