Bogota, Jan 30 (IANS) A Colombian Air Force plane landed in Bogota with 105 Colombian nationals deported from the United States, marking the third flight of its kind this week, the Colombian Foreign Ministry said.
“Deportees arrived in the morning from San Diego, California,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the government remains committed to ensuring the rights and dignity of citizens abroad.
Two previous flights landed on Tuesday, bringing back 201 Colombian nationals in total, reports Xinhua news agency.
After Colombian President Gustavo Petro refused entry of US military planes carrying handcuffed deportees on January 26, a high-level bilateral meeting was held in Washington to reach an agreement on their safe and dignified return, said the ministry.
Astrid Caceres, the director of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, told reporters that an initial investigation shows the US treatment of Colombian deportees has been “degrading.”
Authorities plan to look into complaints made by children who said they were handcuffed and forced by US authorities to get up at three in the morning to bathe with cold water, she said.
Additionally, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he will instruct the Pentagon and the Homeland Security Department to prepare a facility for 30,000 migrants at Guantanamo Bay, a US naval base located on the southeastern coast of Cuba.
“We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. This will double our capacity immediately,” Trump made the remarks before he signed the Laken Riley Act at the White House.
The Laken Riley Act, which mandates the detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes, was approved by Congress earlier this month. It marks the first major legislation of the new administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CNN that the base could be reserved to detain what she described as “the worst of the worst.”
During his campaign, Trump promised to carry out large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants once he took office. After his inauguration on January 20, deportation operations have ramped up in several parts of the United States, reportedly focusing on criminals.
On Sunday alone, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made nearly 1,000 arrests, with lots of activity taking place in the southeastern part of the country, Fox News cited various ICE field offices as saying.
–IANS
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