Two Venezuelan aircraft returned to Caracas on Monday, carrying nearly 200 Venezuelan nationals who had been residing in the U.S. illegally. This repatriation is part of President Trump’s broader deportation initiative.

The return of these 190 migrants suggests a potential de-escalation of tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, and represents a success for the Trump administration’s efforts to secure the repatriation of unauthorized citizens.

The Conviasa airline flights departed from Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army base in El Paso, Texas.

“Two planes of illegal immigrants left El Paso today bound for Venezuela – the cost covered by Venezuela,” tweeted Richard Grennell, the Trump envoy overseeing the deportations.

Deportation flights between the U.S. and Venezuela had been suspended for years, with a brief exception in October 2023 under the Biden administration.

A significant influx of Venezuelan migrants began in 2021 and continues to this day, making Venezuela’s previous refusal to accept their return a major obstacle.

Venezuela’s agreement to repatriate the migrants followed a recent visit to Caracas by Grennell.

“This is the world we desire – a world of peace, understanding, dialogue, and cooperation,” stated Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Venezuelan government confirmed the flights earlier on Monday, issuing a statement criticizing the “malicious” and “false” narratives surrounding the presence of Tren de Aragua gang members in the U.S. The statement asserted that most Venezuelan migrants are hardworking and law-abiding, and accused U.S. officials of attempting to stigmatize the country.

These deportation flights occurred shortly after some undocumented individuals were transferred to the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, where they were separated from 15 existing detainees, including those involved in planning the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A New Mexico federal judge issued a temporary injunction on Sunday, preventing the Trump administration from transferring three Venezuelan men to Guantánamo Bay. The men’s lawyers argued that their clients “fit the profile of individuals the administration has prioritized for detention at Guantánamo, i.e., Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) accusations of connections to the Tren de Aragua gang.”

The flights also followed agreements reached by Secretary of State Marco Rubio with El Salvador and Guatemala for the repatriation of their citizens and other nationalities.

Following Grennell’s visit, Trump stated that Venezuela had agreed to accept “all Venezuelan illegal aliens residing in the U.S., including members of the Tren de Aragua gang,” and to cover the cost of their repatriation. Simultaneously, several Americans detained in Venezuela were released.