Ric Grenell, a special envoy to President Donald Trump, and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (Getty Images)
"I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered the U.S. illegally," Grenell said on X.
Deportation flights to Venezuela will resume Friday, according to Grenell’s post.
Venezuela is home to one of the most notorious migrant gangs in the U.S., Tren de Aragua, members of which have been among the administration’s primary targets for deportation.
John Fabbricatore, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital this development will help improve the administration’s deportation operation.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released this image, writing on X that "deportation flights have begun." (White House)
Trump detailed the decision in a post on Truth Social, stating that Maduro had not upheld his end of the bargain.
"We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement," he wrote.
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"The regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to," he added. "I am therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden "Concession Agreement" be terminated as of the March 1st option to renew."
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ICE is conducting flights to remove illegal immigrants from the U.S. (ICE Seattle)
The Trump administration scored another significant diplomatic victory with Venezuela in January when Grenell visited Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city, and secured the release of six American citizens who were being held by the dictatorship on espionage and terrorism-related charges.
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Reuters reported last week that Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined Maduro’s government is still holding nine Americans hostage under "questionable circumstances and without respect for their rights."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/venezuela-agrees-resume-deportation-flights-following-trump-pressure