Head of Colombia\u2019s migration agency cites degrading treatment by US officials as flights returning citizens suspended\u3002
Colombia has suspended US deportation flights returning citizens detained at the Mexico border, because of cruel and degrading treatment by US migration officials and last-minute flight cancellations.
Fernando Garc\u00eda, head of Colombia\u2019s migration agency, blasted cruel and degrading treatment that some migrants were subjected to before boarding and during the flights, including use of cuffs for hands and feet.
\u201cThere are recurring complaints about the poor conditions in detention centers and mistreatment during flights, which represented a determining factor in the decisions adopted in the last few hours,\u201d Garc\u00eda said in a statement.
The number of Colombians trying to migrate north to the US has soared in recent years, with more than 125,000 apprehended at the United States\u2019 southern border in 2022, according US Customs and Borders Protection (CBP), up from about 6,200 in 2021.
Colombia expected to receive some 1,200 migrants in flights programmed to arrive from the US during the first week of May, the country\u2019s migration agency said in a statement. The pilot plan called \u201cmom returns\u201d was intended to send mostly women, children and adolescents back to Colombia.
Under the plan, expulsion flights to Colombia were to rise to about 20 a month according to Colombian authorities, following a push by US immigration officials to ramp up expulsions of migrants from the southern border before Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
The plan was suspended after flights programmed for 1 and 2 May were canceled, Colombia\u2019s migration agency said.
\u201cBefore the arrival of the scheduled flights \u2026 both were canceled by the North American immigration agencies,\u201d Garc\u00eda said in the statement.
A US official said the pause was limited to flights carrying families.
Colombia\u2019s migration agency did not immediately confirm whether flights carrying other migrants would go ahead.
The US embassy in Bogot\u00e1 declined to comment on the matter.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lifting of the Covid restrictions, known as Title 42, which allows US authorities to expel migrants to Mexico without the chance to seek asylum, is due to take place on 11 May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n