Hundreds of Venezuelans Deported From the U.S. Arrive in Caracas Even As Military Tensions Rise

Nearly 300 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived in Caracas last Friday, the latest repatriation flight to land as military tensions between Washington and Caracas continue to escalate in the Caribbean.

According to Venezuela's Ministry of Interior, Justice and Peace the group of 298 deportees was received at Simón Bolívar International Airport under what the agency described as "pertinent protocols" for reintegration.

The returnees, who departed from El Paso included 240 men, 47 women and 11 children, according to the government program Vuelta a la Patria, which processed the arrivals. In a statement, the ministry said security authorities "applied the corresponding protocols to reintegrate them into society," emphasizing that the flight formed part of ongoing efforts to reunite Venezuelan families.

The latest repatriation comes as the United States has intensified military pressure on the Maduro regime with an unprecedented display of force in the Caribbean. Venezuelan officials have repeatedly denounced the U.S. deployment of naval assets — including the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group — as a threat to national sovereignty, while the Trump administration has signaled that military options remain under consideration.

The frequency of deportation flights to Venezuela has climbed sharply during the current Trump administration. An estimated 10,200 Venezuelans were deported between February and early October, according to deportation-flight data tracked by Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor and reported by ProPublica.

The surge also follows a major legal shift in U.S. immigration policy. On November 7, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans lost protection from deportation after the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and the Supreme Court allowed the termination to proceed. TPS had originally been granted under the Biden administration in 2021 and extended in 2023.