Venezuelan migrants arriving on flight 85 of the Return to the Homeland Plan, November 13, 2025, receiving comprehensive attention upon arrival in Venezuela. Photo: IG/@minjusticia_ve.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela received 577 repatriated migrants from the United States this week, on board two flights that landed at SimĂłn BolĂvar International Airport in MaiquetĂa, La Guaira state.
Flight number 86 of the Return to the Homeland Plan landed on Friday, November 14, carrying 298 nationals deported from El Paso, Texas, United States. This group consisted of 240 men, 47 women, and 11 minors. Venezuelan officials mistakenly referred to this flight as number 87 in initial communications.
It was preceded by flight number 85, which arrived on Wednesday, November 12, from Texas, with 279 Venezuelan migrants: 218 men, 47 women, and 14 children. Both flights were operated by the US airline Eastern.
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This week’s arrivals bring the total number of Venezuelans repatriated from the US to 17,053 since February of this year, after Caracas and Washington, which have had no diplomatic relations since 2019, signed a migrant deportation agreement that remains in place despite unprecedented US military threats against Venezuela since August, when a US military operation was launched under the war on drugs argument.
The US military operation, which till now has involved lethal strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, has been labeled by United Nations experts as extrajudicial killings that violate international law. Similarly, within the US, experts and legislators have called the operation illegal. So far the controversial operation has claimed the lives of 79 civilians in the region, nationals of Venezuela, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, along with an Ecuadorian survivor.
Context of the migration crisis
Most Venezuelan migrants in the US originally left after being affected by the economic crisis between 2015 and 2020, a direct consequence of illegal US sanctions against Venezuela.
Following a massive smear campaign and incidents of xenophobic violence in the US, alleging Venezuelan migrants were criminals or mental health patients, the US government began detaining and deporting them. This occurred despite the majority of migrants having no criminal records and many having legal regularization procedures underway.
Comprehensive support for returnees
Venezuelan authorities receive the repatriated migrants following the protocols of the Return to the Homeland plan. The comprehensive care provided upon arrival includes healthcare, psychological support, and legal and socioeconomic checks.
The Return to the Homeland plan was launched by the government of President Nicolás Maduro in 2018 to repatriate free of cost Venezuelans in vulnerable situations stranded abroad. The program is aimed at assisting those who have been victims of xenophobia and exploitation, in order to ensure their dignified and safe return. It offers comprehensive support to facilitate a successful and trauma-free reintegration into Venezuelan society.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC
