That includes Tren de Aragua gang members, the president says.
President Donald Trump said on Feb. 1 that Venezuela has agreed to receive all Venezuelan illegal immigrants arrested inside the United States and provide for their transportation to their home country.
“Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back.”
His comment came after the U.S. special envoy, Richard Grenell, met with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 31 and brought back six American citizens formerly detained in Venezuela, according to photos that he posted on social media.
“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens. They just spoke to [Trump] and they couldn’t stop thanking him,” Grenell said in a post on X on Jan. 31.
Trump’s Feb. 1 post also made reference to the six Americans, saying that “it is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home.”
However, the White House stated that the high-level visit does not mean that the United States recognizes Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The State Department called a disputed election in July 2024 illegitimate. The two countries have a fraught recent history marked by broken relations, sanctions, and other accusations, with Maduro recently threatening to invade Puerto Rico.
In a similar situation, Colombian officials last week said the government would agree to take back its nationals illegally living in the United States after a standoff between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro over U.S. military deportation flights. Both had threatened to impose tariffs but later reached a deal, with officials confirming soon after that the deportation flights resumed.
“We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries, and all Countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back,” Trump also wrote on Feb. 1. “Furthermore, record numbers of criminals are being removed from our Country, and the Border numbers are the strongest they have been since the First Term of the Trump Administration!”
