Dozens of deported illegal migrants — including some suspected Tren de Aragua gangbangers — grinned and waved proudly as they landed in their native Venezuela early Monday after the South American country resumed accepting repatriation flights from the US.
Nearly 200 deportees were spotted disembarking from the jet soon after it touched down at an airport near Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, first thing Monday morning.
Footage of the arrival showed some migrants appearing to taunt the US by raising their hands in the air as they emerged from the plane — just days after the Trump administration deported scores of Venezuelans to El Salvador’s apocalyptic prisons.
Others were spotted making the sign of the cross as they safely touched back down in their homeland.
A Homeland Security source told News Nation that some of the migrants onboard were members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang.
It comes after the South American country reached an agreement with the United States over the weekend to once again start accepting flights filled with its deported nationals.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had suspended flights back on March 8 after the US Treasury Department announced the withdrawal of Chevron’s license to export Venezuelan oil.
Venezuela accepted the deal to guarantee the “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their Human Rights,” according to Maduro’s chief negotiator, Jorge Rodríguez.
“Migrating is not a crime and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who require it and until we rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador,” Rodríguez said, referring to the earlier deportation of hundreds Venezuelans to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
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