Deportation Flights From US to Colombia Resume After Trump Tariff Threat, Officials Say

A photo uploaded on Jan. 28, 2025, shows Colombian nationals deported from the United States exiting a plane in Bogota, Colombia. Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via X.com

Deportation flights from the United States to Colombia have resumed amid a high-profile spat between the country’s president and President Donald Trump over what to do with repatriated illegal immigrants.

Two Colombian air force planes carrying more than 200 illegal immigrants who were expelled from the United States landed at Bogota’s International Airport on Tuesday, the government of Colombia confirmed.

One plane, which was flying from San Diego, California, sent home 110 Colombians and the other plane, which left from El Paso, Texas, brought home 91, the Colombian Foreign Ministry said in posts issued on X on Tuesday.

In a post on social media platform X, Colombian President Gustavo Petro made note of the deportation flights, writing: “They are Colombians, they are free and dignified and they are in their homeland where they are loved.”

“The migrant is not a criminal, he is a human being who wants to work and progress, to live life,” he added in the post, according to a translation from Spanish to English. He also included photos of the deported individuals disembarking the plane.

In another post, which included a photo of the socialist leader speaking to individuals on a plane, Petro said he would offer “a productive, associative, and cheap credit plan for migrants.”

On Sunday, Petro wrote on social media that he would not allow the United States to fly U.S. military planes with deported illegal immigrants from Colombia back to their country of origin. Two planes carrying people were blocked by his administration, he also said.

But hours later, diplomats from his government and Washington reached a deal on deportation flights in a dispute that had led both countries to threaten tariffs and the United States to impose visa measures. Trump, in a Truth Social post, warned that he would immediately initiate 25 percent tariffs on Colombian goods that would increase to 50 percent after a week, while Petro said his country would also impose tariffs on U.S. goods.

Trump wrote that the tariffs and visa sanctions on top officials were necessary because Petro’s decision to block the deportation flights jeopardized U.S. national security.

“These measures are just the beginning,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement late on Sunday that the Colombian government “has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”

She noted that the tariff orders would be “held in reserve and not signed,” while the United States would keep up visa restrictions on Colombian officials until the first plane of deportees is returned to Colombia, according to the statement.

Trump has long signaled that his administration would impose heavy tariffs on countries on immigration and other policy disputes. Last month, the president warned that he would issue 25 percent tariffs on both Canada and Mexico if they did not curb illegal immigration or drug trafficking across their borders with the United States, while this week, he warned that he could impose 25 percent tariffs on foreign “computer chips, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals to return production of these goods to the United States.”

Aside from tariffs, Trump’s administration has ramped up enforcement against illegal immigration inside the United States, using Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target multiple major cities in recent days. He also signed a variety of immigration-related orders, including declaring a national emergency at the southern U.S. border and ending automatic U.S. citizenship for children born to illegal immigrant parents, although the latter order was paused last week by a Seattle-area judge.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.