(PM.) Venezuela has stopped accepting deportation flights of violent criminal illegal immigrants deported from the United States and Mexico, tarnishing a bilateral agreement that allows them to be transported back to the South American country.
The decision comes as Venezuelan illegal immigrants have been involved in a violent crime wave across the US, much of it suspected gang activity. President Nicolas Maduro tore up the deal which had been established in October after the Biden administration reinstated some of the economic sanctions it had previously lifted on Venezuela, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. This includes sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gold industry.
The Biden admin now faces a headache as they won’t be able to deport these violent criminals back home via flights.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, an illegal immigrant originally from Venezuela, was accused of killing University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. He entered the US in September through El Paso, Texas with his wife and her 5-year-old son. His wife said that they got married in order to combine their asylum cases. They were transported via bus to New York City. He later moved to Georgia after he and his wife separated.
Riley’s body was found in a wooded area of the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Thursday.
In New York City, officials are scrambling to contain a wave of violent crime carried out by Venezuelan illegal immigrant gangs. According to NYPD, the gang known as Tren de Aragua is responsible for dozens of robberies and terrorizing residents in the Big Apple.
Two of its gang members were arrested over the viral brutal attack on NYPD officers in Times Square last month.
.@NYPDnews is trying to find the identities of suspected migrants who kicked and punched officers in the head and body on Jan. 27 in front of 220 W 42nd Street. pic.twitter.com/MdnTHvrKSO
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 31, 2024
Additionally, the Venezuelan gang is allegedly responsible for more than 60 robberies.
In another New York case, a 15-year-old Venezuelan illegal immigrant was arrested for shooting at a security guard in Times Square. The bullet struck a Brazilian tourist in the leg.
.@NYPDnews is trying to find the identities of suspected migrants who kicked and punched officers in the head and body on Jan. 27 in front of 220 W 42nd Street. pic.twitter.com/MdnTHvrKSO
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) January 31, 2024
