BOGOTA, Colombia – Opposition leaders and migrant advocates across Colombia have strongly condemned President Abelardo de la Espriella’s initiative to launch a mass deportation operation targeting undocumented foreign nationals.
De la Espriella introduced the stringent measures during a security council meeting on Sunday, directing law enforcement to commence operations immediately.
The policy is expected to disproportionately impact Venezuelans, who constitute the vast majority of Colombia’s migrant population.
This represents a dramatic shift from prior administrations, which historically focused on establishing legal pathways for migrants fleeing economic and humanitarian crises in neighboring Venezuela.
“I will not accept any illegal immigrants, regardless of their origin,” de la Espriella stated in a video posted on the social media platform X on Sunday evening. “They must depart and face deportation. This is a political decision I am prepared to own.”
The far-right president, inaugurated earlier this month, stated that his administration will initially focus on individuals “engaged in criminal activity” before targeting those whose immigration “status has not been regularized.”
Although de la Espriella did not specify any particular nationalities, Venezuelans account for approximately 95 percent of Colombia’s migrant population, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Approximately 2.8 million Venezuelans reside in Colombia, making it the global hub for the largest Venezuelan diaspora.
While nearly 2 million Venezuelans hold a Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) allowing them to legally reside in the country, an estimated 500,000 lack formal authorization, according to migration authorities. Many of these individuals were granted temporary permits that have since expired.
A political outsider, de la Espriella campaigned on a stringent anti-illegal immigration platform during his first bid for elected office.
The former lawyer has aligned himself with right-wing leaders globally, including US President Donald Trump, who initiated a comparable deportation campaign in the United States.
De la Espriella’s Sunday announcement triggered outrage among opposition leaders, notably leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, who narrowly lost the presidential runoff in June. Cepeda leads the Historic Pact, the largest party in Colombia’s Congress.
“Today, de la Espriella has added xenophobia to the authoritarian, despotic, and discriminatory traits of his policies,” Cepeda wrote on X.
Cepeda subsequently accused de la Espriella of failing to protect Colombian nationals deported from the United States.
“De la Espriella is bold enough to target migrants from Latin American countries within Colombia, yet cowardly when it comes to protecting our compatriots deported from the United States,” Cepeda stated.
Maria del Mar Pizarro, a Historic Pact congresswoman, also condemned de la Espriella’s plans during an interview with Al Jazeera, questioning whether the deportation campaign was motivated by security concerns or discrimination.
“Foreign nationals who commit crimes must be prosecuted,” she stated. “However, persecuting and deporting individuals simply because their immigration status is irregular constitutes populism, not genuine security.”
Given the porous nature of the roughly 2,200-kilometre (1,370-mile) land border between the two nations, Pizarro added that there is little to prevent deported Venezuelans from returning to Colombia.
“Without effective border control, regularization programs, and intelligence operations against criminal gangs, the government bears the cost of deportation, only for the problem to return,” she said.
Venezuelan Diaspora Fears Policy Implications
De la Espriella announced that the deportation operation would commence with a pilot program in the coastal city of Barranquilla, home to an estimated 182,000 Venezuelans.
However, members of the Venezuelan diaspora in the city fear the crackdown will reinforce negative stereotypes about their community.
“We must not conflate irregular immigration status with criminality, as they are entirely distinct concepts,” said Juan Carlos Viloria Doria, vice president of Venezuelans in Barranquilla, a migrant advocacy organization.
While he supported the prosecution of those who commit crimes, he argued that the law must apply equally to everyone “independent of nationality.”
Viloria also noted that many migrants could face political persecution if forcibly returned to Venezuela.
Experts at the United Nations and other human rights organizations have accused the Venezuelan government of “repressive” activities, including the arbitrary detention and torture of political dissidents.
“Many departed because they believed their lives, freedom, or safety were at risk,” Viloria explained. “This is compounded by the severe economic, social, and humanitarian conditions Venezuela continues to face.”
Despite possessing the world’s largest petroleum reserves, Venezuela has suffered from a plummeting gross domestic product (GDP) and rampant hyperinflation over the past decade.
Critics of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) say it has presided over chronic economic mismanagement, channeling oil profits to a small elite while underfunding public services.
The Venezuelan government, however, argues it has been constrained by US sanctions, which have severely impacted oil revenue, trade, and foreign investment.
Faced with Venezuela’s economic crisis and threats of political persecution, approximately 7.6 million citizens have fled the country since 2014, according to the UN.
Ronald Vergara moved to Colombia in 2016 and founded Fundacion Hermanos Caminantes, a nongovernmental organization supporting recently arrived migrants. He fears de la Espriella’s crackdown will harm an already struggling community.
“It would truly be inhumane to deport people who came here to survive and work—decent individuals who make up the majority of our population,” he told Al Jazeera.
Despite living in Colombia for a decade, Vergara was only granted a Temporary Protection Permit a few months ago due to systemic delays. He noted that residing without documentation severely limited his opportunities.
“I always felt excluded and was never able to secure a job paying a decent wage,” he explained.
Vergara also pointed out cases where individuals holding a Temporary Protection Permit lost their legal status due to lost or stolen identity cards. Thousands of others are still awaiting their documentation, including his son.
“He is 17 and about to graduate from high school, but he cannot graduate without the PPT,” Vergara stated.
A Departure from Political Tradition
De la Espriella’s announcement signals a new era of anti-immigrant politics in Colombia, according to experts.
Since the Venezuelan migration crisis began, successive administrations in Bogota have responded by offering new arrivals assistance and opportunities for integration.
In 2017, for instance, then-President Juan Manuel Santos introduced a two-year temporary permit for Venezuelans called the Special Permit of Permanence and bolstered humanitarian assistance along the border.
His successor, right-wing leader Ivan Duque, severed relations with Caracas in 2019, closing the land border to vehicular traffic and suspending air travel. However, he still offered migrants the opportunity to remain in Colombia by rolling out the PPT in 2021.
Most recently, Colombia’s first left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, presided over a thaw in bilateral relations with Venezuela and adopted a pro-migrant stance. His presidency ended this year with de la Espriella’s victory.
Ronal Rodriguez, a spokesperson at the Venezuela Observatory, a research center at Bogota’s Rosario University, said de la Espriella’s policies interrupt a years-long trend.
“Everyone held a favorable stance toward migration and, in particular, used language that promoted integration,” Rodriguez explained.
“Unfortunately, I believe this ends—for the moment—with the stance President Abelardo de la Espriella is now taking,” Rodriguez stated.
While the president has pledged a crackdown on irregular migrants, the full details of his deportation platform have yet to be revealed.
Rodriguez believes de la Espriella may yet back down from his bold declarations.
He hopes the president will “reconsider and return to the Colombian government’s policy of integration.”
