Colombian migrants arrived safely back to their home country from the United States on January 28, after a brief but tense diplomatic impasse between the two countries. The migrants had initially been put on US military planes on Saturday, January 25 to be deported back to Colombia. However, early on Sunday, President Gustavo Petro stated that he would refuse to receive planes full of Colombian migrants if they were not treated with dignity.
The exchange quickly escalated, with Trump threatening to impose heavy tariffs on the country and sanctions on Colombian officials, and Petro threatening to impose reciprocal tariffs. After several high-level talks between the Secretaries of State of both nations on Sunday evening, both sides announced that they had overcome the conflict. However, while the Colombian Foreign Ministry maintained that Colombia would continue to demand respect for its compatriots, the White House claimed that Colombia had accepted all the measures requested by Washington.
On January 27, the Colombian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement that the National Government had, through negotiations, arranged for the 110 Colombians to return to their country on a Colombian Air Force, “complying with the protocols established for the dignified return and with guaranteed rights for Colombians arriving on deportation flights.” It detailed that there would be “Colombian Immigration officials, as well as personnel from the Foreign Ministry’s coordination of assistance to nationals, and medical personnel” aboard the flight in order to “guarantee respect for the rights of the citizens and to carry out medical monitoring if necessary. It is expected that in the next few days, another plane will leave with the same objective.”
In a video, dozens of Colombian migrants can be seen returning to their country in a Colombian airplane of the Colombian Air Force (FAC) without handcuffs or being tied by their feet, as were the hundreds of Latino migrants recently expelled from the United States.
Upon arrival in Colombia, deportees reported mistreatment by US immigration authorities in statements to media outlets. One young man denounced, “From the beginning they mistreated us, they threw away our clothes, they did not let us bathe, they woke us up at 3 am, they waited for us to go to sleep and an hour later they woke us up, they yelled at us, some of us were beaten [by US officials].” According to the same person, the intervention of the Colombian government did change the treatment of the deportees “The last day they let us bathe, they let us brush our teeth, they treated us well.”
🇨🇴Colombian nationals arrived this morning to Colombia without handcuffs and on a Colombian Air Force plane.
The deportation flight back to Colombia proceeded after President Gustavo Petro had on Sunday refused to receive a flight full of deportees in protest of the inhumane… pic.twitter.com/NToPn5t4On
— Peoples Dispatch (@peoplesdispatch) January 28, 2025
Regarding the second plane that arrived in Colombia, the Colombian Foreign Ministry informed: “The second plane from San Diego (California), with 110 Colombians deported by the United States Government, has already landed at the CATAM Military Airport. The well-being of our fellow citizens and the guarantee of their rights is a priority of the Colombian Government.”
Responses from Latin America
The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign continues, and while progressive governments such as those of Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil have raised their voices in protest, they can do little to prevent Washington from carrying out its migratory mechanisms.
Read more: Colombia and the United States resolve their diplomatic impasse, but tension remains
In this sense, Colombian Congresswoman María Fernanda Carrascal posted on X: “Put aside the gossip and get ready, because what is coming depends only on Trump, the protectionist policies that he has already announced and that include tariffs not only for Colombia, as well as the persecution of migrants, are a fact.”
She emphasized: “What depends on us is how we take on the situation, the government must be protected, and we must join forces with the region, letting ourselves be trampled on cannot be the way. We must look for ways out and other markets, other currencies to trade, all the possible alternatives.”
For now, Latin America is at a crossroads. It is deeply divided between presidents aligned with Washington’s foreign policy, and those of progressive and leftist governments, who have publicly criticized the United States for its treatment of their migrants.
The region faces an unprecedented situation with the massive repatriation of their citizens. Leaders must balance defending their migrants, while also preparing for the immediate effects the deportations will have on local economies, especially the drastic reduction in remittances and a possible rapid increase in the job-seeking population.