President Donald Trump has announced retaliatory measures against Colombia after the country refused to accept deportation flights of Colombian migrants.
Newsweek reached out to the White House, U.S. State Department and Colombian Foreign Ministry for comment by email on Sunday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Trump initiated his much-promised plan to deport unauthorized or undocumented immigrants within the first week of his new administration. The first flights, which used military planes, started taking off on Friday last week.
The White House published photos of migrants boarding the planes along with the declaration, “deportation flights have begun.”
Trump made immigration a central theme of his successful presidential campaign and Americans largely support his mass deportation plans.
A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.” Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
What To Know
Colombian President Gustavo Petro denied the flights with deported Colombian migrants into his country, writing on X, formerly Twitter: “The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory. The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.”
In response, Trump announced a raft of punishments against Colombia, writing on his Truth Social platform: “I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia.”
Trump claimed that the refusal “has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States,” so he announced several punitive measures against Colombia, which he said would be taken “immediately.”
The announced U.S. measures include immediate 25 percent tariffs set to increase to 50…
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