The U.S. Embassy in Colombia canceled Visa appointments on Monday with people seeking entry into the United States, the latest chapter in a nasty battle between the two countries sparked by Colombia’s initial refusal to accept military flights filled with deportees sent by President Trump.
Colombians seeking approval for extended US travel were turned away from the embassy in Bogota after being handed letters that said their appointments had been canceled “due to the Colombian government’s refusal to accept repatriation flights of Colombian nationals” according to the Associated Press.
Some have been waiting for appointments for two years and those who were denied consultations on Monday will likely have to wait an additional three months to schedule a new date for visa review.
Trump had preemptively imposed tariffs and a travel ban on the Latin American country Sunday for not accepting deportation flights on military aircrafts.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said he would allow American planes into the nation on Monday ,which prompted Trump to drop the sanctions.
Some people seeking visas for travel to the U.S. blamed their own country’s leader for the mess.
“President Petro did not represent our interests,” Elio Camelo, a U.S. visa seeker from the city of Cali who had traveled to Bogota for his appointment told the AP.
Trump vowed to start mass deportations once he took office during his presidential campaign, and he appears to be trying to fulfill that goal in his first weeks in office.
Previous presidents have also flown deportees back to their home countries, though Trump’s decision to use military flights is new.
Last year Colombia accepted 124 deportation flights on chartered planes organized by US government contractors according to the AP.
“President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
