Deportation flights for Venezuelan illegal migrants to their home country resumed through Honduras on March 24, 2025, marking the first flight since the Venezuelan government and the Trump administration agreed to resume accepting them.
On March 22, 2025, Venezuela’s President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodríguez announced in a public statement that the Bolivarian Government resumed the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants in the US on March 23, 2025.
“Migration is not a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who require it,” Rodríguez said in the statement.
The inaugural flight, operated by the state airline Conviasa, landed at Simón Bolívar International Airport (CCS) in Maiquetía, Vargas, at 01:01 local time on March 24, 2025. It originated from the US and made a stop in Honduras for a change of aircraft.
Honduran TV station Canal 6 reported that the humanitarian transfer process began around 16:30 local time and was completed in about three and a half hours “in an orderly and safe manner.”
Venezuelan Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello Rondón, confirmed that there were 199 Venezuelan migrants on the flight.
“These individuals had no legal basis to remain in the United States,” the US Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in a statement on X. “We expect to see a consistent flow of deportation flights to Venezuela going forward.”
Video footage of the arrival spread on social media showing deportees on the aircraft celebrating their arrival, despite still being handcuffed.
On March 8, 2025, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro halted the deportation flights after the US Treasury Department revoked Chevron’s license to export oil from Venezuela.
On March 15, 2025, US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, allowing authorities to detain, relocate, or deport immigrants based on their country of origin. The statement referenced Tren de Aragua (TdA), identified as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization’ with thousands of members, many of whom have “unlawfully infiltrated the US.”
“TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes”, the statement read.