After Colombia rejected admission to two U.S. military deportation aircraft, President Donald Trump threatened to apply broad retaliatory actions against the country, including tariffs and visa sanctions. The White House announced on Sunday that Colombia has agreed to all of Trump’s requirements.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”
Regarding tariffs and sanctions, Leavitt stated that Trump’s proposed measures “will be held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement.”
Visa restrictions and “enhanced inspections” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection are among the other measures that were announced earlier Sunday and “will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”
In remarks given in Spanish, Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo stated that the nation will continue to accept deported Colombians and ensure that they are treated with dignity as citizens with rights.
During the brief webcast, he added, “The presidential plane is available to the government, led by Gustavo Petro, to receive the Colombians who would have been deported today.” Colombia reaffirms that in order to protect our citizens’ rights, national interest, and dignity, diplomatic avenues for communication will remain open.
The Foreign Ministry of Colombia also issued a statement in the Spanish language that “the chancellor Luis Gilberto Murillo and the ambassador Daniel Garcia-Pena, will travel in the following hours to Washington, D.C., to sustain high-level relationships that follow up with agreements, resulting in the joint work and the exchange of diplomatic notes that were sent today between both governments.”
Trump threatened punitive tariffs and other measures after Colombia refused to allow deportation flights from the United States to enter earlier on Sunday, starting the crisis.
“These actions are only the first steps. Regarding the reception and repatriation of the criminals they pushed into the United States, we will not permit the Colombian government to flout its legal duties.” Earlier Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social.
NBC News had received confirmation from the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security officials that the planes had been rejected.
According to the defense spokesman, the flights, which were conducted on US military C-17 aircraft, left California with roughly 80 Colombian migrants apiece.
As the United States accuses Colombia of failing to accept deported nationals, Trump responded on Truth Social by announcing broad retaliatory measures that include increased customs inspections, financial penalties, visa sanctions on government officials and allies, and tariffs on Colombian imports.
In his letter, Trump defended the actions by claiming that “Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.”
The duties on Colombian imports, he continued, will begin at 25% on all commodities and increase to 50% within a week.
Trump also wrote, “Visa Sanctions on all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government,” along with “A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters.”
Trump’s actions “do not scare me,” Petro retorted, adding that Colombia is not anyone’s colony.He gave the foreign trade minister of Colombia instructions to increase import duties by 25% and to target exports to “the whole world other than the U.S.”
He went on to say that the government will allegedly assist in replacing American items whose prices would rise in the national economy with domestically manufactured ones.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative estimates that $53.5 billion worth of goods and services will be traded between the United States and Colombia in 2022, with exports slightly outpacing imports in value.
In recent years, the biggest U.S. imports from Colombia were agricultural products, which accounted for more than 26% of imports, oils and minerals, and cement and lime, which accounted for over 40% of imports, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
The official claimed that after Petro abruptly rescinded all diplomatic clearances for the flights, which had been cleared for landing, they were grounded.
Later, in a statement, Petro’s administration said that the government was emphasizing “dignified conditions” for the migrants, not because he did not want to make it easier for Colombians to return to their homeland.
“The Government of Colombia, under the leadership of President Gustavo Petro, has arranged for the presidential plane to facilitate the dignified return of Colombian nationals who were to arrive in the country today in the morning hours, coming from deportation flights,” said the statement.
It further stated: “The government’s pledge to ensure dignified conditions is reflected in this policy. Colombians have never been or will never be exiled from Colombian land since they are patriots and citizens with rights.
Stay tuned for real-time updates.
Tensions were raised and deportation plans were thwarted last week when Mexico temporarily prevented two American planes carrying 80 passengers each from landing. Mexican officials have voiced their opposition to the United States’ unilateral immigration policy moves, even though the matter has been handled.
Petro denounced the use of military aircraft for deportations in a statement on X.
He wrote that a migrant should be treated with the respect that every human being is entitled to because they are not criminals. Without treating them like criminals, we will transport our citizens in private aircraft. Colombia has to be respected.
Citing the use of handcuffs, a malfunctioning air conditioner, and other infractions of a bilateral agreement that guarantees humane treatment, the Brazilian government denounced what it called the terrible treatment of its citizens who were aboard an ICE repatriation aircraft on Friday.
The Guatemalan Migration Institute reports that around 265 deported citizens were transported to Guatemala on three flights from the United States on Friday, including two aboard military planes.
The flights are a component of the Trump administration’s anti-illegal immigration campaign, which was started in his first week in office with executive orders. The government has sent 1,500 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to bolster enforcement in addition to deportation activities.