On Sunday, President Donald Trump criticized Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s regime for refusing to allow US deportation flights to land in his country.
This weekend, the United States sent two flights of Colombian illegal aliens out of the country as part of Trump’s burgeoning deportation program. Petro argued on X that the United States cannot “treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” which drew criticism from Trump.
“I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States carrying a large number of Illegal Criminals were not permitted to land in Colombia.” This order was issued by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already extremely unpopular with his people,” Trump wrote on social media.
“Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Mr. Trump said.
Trump has ordered a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Colombia, which will increase to 50% after one week. He also issued a travel ban and visa revocations to all Colombian government officials, including “allies and supporters.”
He also directed increased CBP inspections of “all Colombian nationals and cargo.”
“These measures are only the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian government to violate its legal obligations regarding the acceptance and return of the criminals it forced into the United States!” Trump warned.
According to a senior Trump administration official, the orders sent a “clear message” that countries have “an obligation to accept repatriation flights.”
A White House official also told Fox News that officials are drafting final documents for the president’s signature on all sanctions imposed on Colombia, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already directed the cancellation of all visa appointments. The retaliatory process is moving at “lightning speed,” according to Fox News.
Petro initially condemned migrant flights in a statement issued on Sunday.
“The United States cannot treat Colombian immigrants as criminals. I refuse to allow American planes carrying Colombian migrants to enter our territory. Petro wrote that the United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before receiving them.
Later on Sunday, the Colombian president appeared to back down, offering his own presidential plane to help repatriate migrants to his country. Petro said in a statement that the plane will be used “to facilitate the dignified return of compatriots who were going to arrive in the country today in the morning, coming from deportation flights.”
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, has warned that the administration’s deportation program is only getting started. Officials are currently targeting illegal aliens who have committed violent crimes, but Homan claims that anyone who has entered the country illegally will soon be “on the table.”
