EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Deportation flights between the U.S. and Colombia resumed on Tuesday, Jan. 28 after the diplomatic drama over the weekend between President Donald Trump and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.
A deal between both countries was reportedly made on Sunday night to resume the removal flights, with the White House saying in a statement that Colombia had “agreed to all of President Trump’s terms,” including the arrival of deportees on military flights.
According to Colombia’s Foreign Ministry, 91 Colombian nationals boarded a Colombian military aircraft sent from Bogota to El Paso, Texas on Monday, taking off from Biggs Army Airfield just before midnight.
Using a flight tracker website, KTSM tracked the deportation flight as it approached Fort Bliss, touching down just before 10 p.m. and departing approximately two hours later. The flight arrived back in Bogota early Tuesday morning.
“Texas 23, the district I represent, has been ground zero for this border crisis, and it’ll be ground zero for deportation operations that are ongoing,” said U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas.
District 23 stretches from San Antonio to East El Paso and includes Fort Bliss. Gonzales’ district also includes about 800 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
It comes after Petro objected to the use of U.S. military aircrafts deporting Colombians, saying his country’s citizens were being treated like criminals. Colombia denied entry to two U.S. military deportation flights on Sunday, only to have Trump respond with a threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Colombian goods. Trump also threatened visa restrictions, among other sanctions, before the two presidents came to an agreement.
“What the Trump Administration is doing right now, is performative in many respects,” said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas. “It is in many ways, I believe, a form of propaganda so he can tell his base, ‘Look, I’m doing exactly what I told you I was going to do.'”
The Trump Administration has said it would prioritize the expulsion of migrants with criminal records in the initial phases of his mass deportation plan. However, it has expanded arrest priorities to anyone in the country illegally.
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