Colombia awaits deported migrants after Trump forces climbdown

BOGOTA: Colombia said on Monday it had sent aircraft to repatriate migrants deported from the United States after apparently bowing to President Donald Trump´s threats of painful tariffs for defying his plans for mass expulsions.

After a day-long showdown with Trump, which culminated with Washington and Bogota threatening each other with a full-blown trade war, the White House claimed on Sunday evening that Colombia had backed down.

Washington said that Bogota, which turned back two US military planeloads of migrants on Sunday, had agreed to “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States.”

But it was unclear whether Colombia´s left-wing President Gustavo Petro had relinquished all of his demands, with Bogota saying on Monday it had sent its own planes to bring home deportees.

Colombia´s ambassador to Washington, Daniel Garcia Pena, told Blu Radio that the planes were “on their way to pick up our compatriots in the United States” and would be “landing today, or at the latest early tomorrow.”

Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo on Sunday night confirmed that the government had “overcome the impasse” with Washington but did not give details, saying only that Colombia would “continue to receive Colombians who return as deportees” in “dignified conditions.”

Trump´s plan for mass deportations of migrants has put him on a potential collision course with governments in Latin America, the original home of most of the United States´ estimated 11 million undocumented migrants. Since he took office a week ago, thousands of migrants have been deported to Central and South America -- but in most cases the deportations stemmed from agreements predating his return to power.

Colombia, traditionally one of the United States´ closest allies in Latin America, was the only country to announce that it had turned back deportation flights. The decision appeared linked to the treatment of dozens of Brazilian migrants who were sent home in chains on a US plane on Friday, in what Brazil called “flagrant disregard” for their basic rights. Colombia´s president had made clear however he would allow in civilian deportation flights, as long as the migrants were not treated “like criminals.”