Venezuela has agreed to take back its violent criminal migrants nabbed in the US — including members of the Tren de Aragua gang wreaking havoc on the Big Apple and other cities, President Trump says.
“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,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
“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 said.
The announcement comes on the heels for a meeting between US enjoy Richard Grenell and Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on Friday — with Grenell returning to the US with six American citizens who had been detained in the South American country.
The Trump administration insisted that the visit does not signal US recognition of Maduro’s iron-fisted rule, nor did the White House offer any concessions to Venezuela as a result of the migrant arrangement.
“The only award for Maduro was my physical presence, the first senior US official to visit the country in years,” Grenell told the Washington Post over the weekend. “It was a big gift to him to have a visit by an envoy of President Trump.”
Maduro’s relationship with the US has long been strained over his harsh rule — with Venezuela reportedly blocking flights from the US returning illegal Venezuelan citizens for about a year.
The countries’ new agreement marks Trump’s latest step to keep his campaign promise to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from the US, including many the president describes as common criminals.
Tren de Aragua gang members have been a particular scourge on the US, establishing a criminal foothold in cities such as the Big Apple, where they have recruited members in city shelters to set up illegal gun-, drug- and sex-trafficking operations.
Last week, back-to-back raids by federal agents and the NYPD took a chunk out of the gang’s operation.
On Friday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it had arrested more than 7,200 illegal migrants in just nine days, with deportation proceedings still ramping up.
The White House also announced that as many as 30,000 migrants would be shipped to the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba — a move denounced by the Cuban government.
The moves have gotten some pushback from Latin America, including a refusal by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to accept a planeload of illegal Mexican migrants to return to her country last week.
Colombian Presiden Gustavo Petro also balked at accepting migrant flights from the US — at first. Petro later caved and announced that his country would accept the deportees.
The mass deportations were at the crux of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
A massive influx of migrants have crossed the US border with Mexico since 2022, with thousands settling in New York City — many placed in tax-funded hotels and shelters.
With Post wires
