Colombia’s new president faces backlash over ‘inhumane’ deportation policy

What the report says

Bogota, Colombia — President Abelardo de la Espriella has drawn sharp criticism after announcing a deportation crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals, a policy unveiled less than a month into his term. According to Al Jazeera, he told a security council meeting that police should begin operations within days, and later said on social media that people in the country illegally would be removed, with an initial focus on those accused of crimes and then on those without regularized status.

The policy appears aimed chiefly at Venezuelan migrants, who make up the overwhelming majority of Colombia’s migrant population. Al Jazeera reported that about 2.8 million Venezuelans live in Colombia, with nearly 2 million holding temporary protection permits and roughly 500,000 lacking legal status. De la Espriella, a political outsider and former lawyer, campaigned on tougher immigration enforcement and has aligned himself with right-wing figures, including U.S. President Donald Trump.

Opposition lawmakers, migrant advocates and Venezuelan community leaders condemned the plan as xenophobic and harmful. Critics argued that immigration status should not be equated with criminality and warned that deporting people to Venezuela could expose some to political persecution or worsen already difficult humanitarian conditions. One migrant organizer in Barranquilla, where the government plans a pilot operation, said many families came to Colombia to survive and work.

The announcement marks a break from earlier Colombian governments, which generally focused on legal pathways and humanitarian support for Venezuelans fleeing crisis at home. That wider context helps explain why the new policy has stirred debate over security, discrimination and the treatment of migrants in Colombia.