The Biden administration is going to resume deporting migrants to Venezuela, two US officials told the Associated Press on Thursday.
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The process is expected to begin shortly, the officials said, though they did not provide specific details on when the flights would begin taking off. The officials were not authorized to publicly disclose details of the government’s plan ahead of an official announcement and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The news comes not long after the administration increased protected status for Venezuelans who arrive to the US. It reflects the larger strategy by Biden to not only provide expanded legal pathways for people arriving but also to crack down on those who illegally cross into the US.
Venezuela plunged into a political, economic and humanitarian crisis over the last decade, pushing at least 7.3 million people to migrate and making food and other necessities unaffordable for those who remain.
The vast majority who fled settled in neighboring countries in Latin America, but many began coming to the United States in the last three years through the notoriously dangerous Darién Gap, a stretch of jungle in Panama.
