Venezuela Stops Taking Migrants From U.S

Venezuela is no longer taking in flights of migrants deported from the U.S. and Mexico, undermining a key tool that the Biden administration has tried to use to deter illegal migration from the South American country, according to people familiar with the measures.

Almost weekly flights from the U.S. to Venezuela came to a stop in late January, U.S. officials said. It marks the longest hiatus in flights since the two countries announced a landmark deal to restart deportations in October.

The U.S. had sent about 1,800 Venezuelans back home on 15 flights, a small fraction of the nearly half million Venezuelans detained along the southwestern border over the past two years, according to U.S. government data.

The flights to Venezuela were intended to send a signal to migrants that they would face significant deportation risks if they crossed the border illegally, potentially easing some of the pressure on President Biden, whose poll ratings are suffering ahead of November’s presidential election because of the immigration issue. A similar measure was effective in curtailing a surge of Haitian migrants aiming to sneak into the U.S. last year.