Menendez: Reported deportations of Venezuelans through third countries ‘extremely disturbing’

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Tuesday called reports of Venezuelan deportations through third countries “extremely disturbing.”

Menendez, the highest-ranking Latino member of Congress, responded to reports that President Biden is using third countries to deport Venezuelans, a practice Biden condemned former President Trump for using.

“The recent reports of the Biden Administration removing Venezuelans through third countries is extremely disturbing. By continuing to use a page from Trump’s immigration enforcement playbook, this administration is turning its back on the immigrants who need our protection the most,” Menendez said in the statement. 

NBC News and Noticias Telemundo Investiga reported on Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 176 Venezuelans from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 31, 2021, a period that includes eight months with Biden in the White House. The outlets also interviewed several deportees and families who confirmed continued third-country deportations of Venezuelans.

More than 50,000 Venezuelans were caught illegally crossing the U.S. border in fiscal 2021, a huge spike from 2020, they reported.

Millions of Venezuelans have fled from their home country due to the oppressive rule of President Nicolás Maduro, whose government the U.S. does not recognize as legitimate. 

Corruption under Maduro has contributed to food shortages and hyperinflation that is crippling the economy. The International Criminal Court said in November that it would be opening a crimes against humanity case on Venezuela. 

“Venezuela is suffering a refugee crisis as the result of a brutal dictatorship and urgent humanitarian conditions. Using Title 42 to expel Venezuelan refugees to third countries, is unconscionable and has to stop,” Menendez said. 

“I sincerely hope President Biden corrects course immediately and orders [Homeland Security] Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken to reverse this cruel course of action,” he added.