Venezuela is stripping the Biden administration of a crucial tool of deterrence for illegal immigration by no longer accepting flights of migrants being deported from the U.S.
The U.S. returned about 1,800 Venezuelans on 15 flights since the countries announced a deal to restart deportations in October, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. But that is just a fraction of the 144,368 Venezuelans who have been encountered at the southern border in this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, according to Customs and Border Patrol data. A total of 266,071 Venezuelans were encountered in fiscal year 2023.
Biden administration officials said the U.S. has other measures to deport migrants to Venezuela, including commercial flights, the Journal reported, although there are no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela. Also, Mexican authorities won't deport Venezuelans on commercial flights.
This development comes as President Joe Biden is facing mounting criticism for his immigration policies in an election year, with polls showing Americans are troubled by the lack of border security. Plus, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached over his failure to secure the border and is awaiting trial in the Senate.
The Department for Homeland Security (DHS) said it's working with allies in the region to address the crisis, which has seen an estimated 8 million illegal immigrants cross into the U.S. during Biden's presidency.
"If Venezuelan migrants do not avail themselves of lawful pathways," a DHS spokeswoman told the Journal, "they are subject to removal," such as being sent to Mexico.
The deportations agreement in October came about after more than a year of secret negotiations between senior U.S. and Venezuelan officials, the Journal reported. The U.S. lifted sanctions on the oil industry and other sectors in Venezuela, a prisoner exchange was held, and Venezuela said it would take steps leading to free and fair elections later this year.
But Venezuela said in January it would stop accepting deportees from the U.S. after Washington began reimposing limited economic sanctions against Caracas for its failure to follow through on loose pledges to restore democratic order and move toward transparent and fair presidential elections, the Journal reported.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.