Colombia will not accept deportation flights from the United States until the Trump administration provides a process to treat Colombian migrants with “dignity and respect,” the country’s president, Gustavo Petro, he said on Sunday in a series of posts on x.
Mr. Petro also said that Colombia had already turned away military planes carrying Colombian soldiers. While other countries in Latin America have raised concerns about President Trump’s sweeping deportation plans, Colombia appears to be the first to explicitly refuse to cooperate.
“I cannot force migrants to stay in a country that does not want them,” Mr. Petro wrote, “but if that country sends them back, it should be with dignity and respect for them and for our country.”
Mr. Petro’s stance is likely to put him on a collision course with Mr. Trump, who since taking office last Monday has issued a series of executive orders and taken other steps aimed at laying the groundwork to try to deport huge numbers of migrants.
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Among other things, Mr Petro said he would be willing to allow civilian aircraft to carry deportees landing in Colombia, but not military aircraft. “A migrant is not a criminal,” he wrote on X.
It did not include details of when or how many military aircraft and migrants were turned away.
It is unclear whether Colombia can legally turn away its own citizens, or if or how many deportation flights it has received in the past. The president’s deputy confirmed that the planes had been turned away, but did not immediately respond to other questions.
Mr. Petro’s statement was in response to contribution Citing reports from a local news outlet about complaints of “inhumane” treatment of deported migrants stemming from a video of men disembarking a plane from the United States in Brazil, citing local news outlets tied together.
The announcement comes as a country all over the world are grappling with how to prepare for the mass deportations of illegal immigrants that Mr. Trump has threatened.
Two military jets carrying deported migrants landed in Guatemala City On Friday, one of the first countries to sign an agreement with the United States to accept deported citizens transported on US planes.
