Colombia caves on deportation flights after Trump launches tirade threatening tariffs
Reach Daily Express January 27, 2025 01:39 PM

Colombia's President has caved on allowing US deportation flights to land in the country just two hours after Donald Trump threatened huge tariffs.

hit back at after the nation's president, refused to allow US deportation flights to land in the country, threatening several harsh measures against Colombia.

The US had sent two flights of undocumented Colombians to the country this weekend as begins to enact his promise of deporting millions of illegal migrants.

However, the plane was refused permission to land with the order to refuse to come directly from Colombian President Petro.

Now, the President has made a U-turn, releasing a letter offering his own presidential plane to " facilitate the dignified return of the compatriots who were to arrive in the country this morning from deportation flights".

The letter added: "This measure responds to the Government's commitment to guarantee decent conditions."

The letter came after blasted Petro's initial decision on social media and said: "I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the , with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia.

"This order was given by Colombia's Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people.

"Petro's denial of these flights has jeopardised 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."

The US president announced that 25% of emergency tariffs would be placed on Colombian goods entering the country, rising to 50% after one week.

Other measures included travel bans, visa revocations for Colombian Government Officials, visa sanctions for party members, enhanced Customs and Border Protection Inspections of all Colombian Nationals and Cargo, and Treasury, Banking, and Financial Sanctions.

A senior Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that the orders were a "clear message" that countries have "an obligation to accept repatriation flights."

His tirade ominously warned: "These measures are just the beginning. 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!"

The new US president promised "mass deportations on day one" throughout his election campaign, in addition to on Canada, Mexico and the European Union if they did not yield to his demands.

Petro condemned the attempt to land the planes loaded with migrants as he wrote: "The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals. I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory.

"The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them."

Trump has appointed Tom Homan to be his border tsar, and he is known for his hardline approach to immigration.

Homan has previously said that anybody living in the country illegally will be considered for deportation whilst also promising to make it more difficult for those without official papers and their offspring to receive wages and benefits.

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