Washington/Bogota, Jan 27: (AP) US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he was ordering tariffs, visa restrictions and other retaliatory measures to be taken against Colombia after its government rejected two flights carrying migrants.
Trump said the measures were necessary, because the decision of Colombian President Gustavo Petro “jeopardised” national security in the US.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote on his social media platform 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.”
Earlier Sunday, Petro said that his government won’t accept flights carrying migrants deported from the US until the Trump administration creates a protocol that treats them with “dignity”. Petro made the announcement in two X posts, one of which included a news video of migrants reportedly deported to Brazil walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet.
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Petro said. “That is why I returned the US military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants.”
The US government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press regarding aircraft and protocols used in deportations to Colombia.
Petro added that his country would receive Colombians in “civilian airplanes” and “without treatment like criminals”.
As part of a flurry of actions to make good on Trump’s campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration, his government is using active-duty military to help secure the border and carry out deportations.
Two Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants removed from the US touched down early Friday in Guatemala. That same day, Honduras received two deportation flights carrying a total of 193 people.
