Trump Ally in Colombia Orders Migrant Deportation Raids

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered police and the national immigration service to begin raids to detain and deport migrants living in the country without legal status, in a video and cabinet announcement made Sunday.

The ultraconservative leader, who is closely aligned with President Donald Trump, said the operations should start "this very week" and would target migrants committing crimes first, then those without regular status.

Most of those affected are Venezuelans. About 2.8 million live in Colombia, the largest Venezuelan diaspora anywhere, and roughly 848,000 of them are in an irregular situation, including 193,000 children and adolescents, The Guardian reported.

What He Said

"Let the coordinated operations begin to track down illegal immigrants: first, those committing crimes; second, those who have not regularised their status and who will have to be deported immediately," de la Espriella said at a cabinet meeting held in Barranquilla, the Caribbean city that has in effect become an alternative capital.

In a video posted Sunday night on his X account, he went further: "I will not accept any illegal immigrants, wherever they come from. They will have to leave and be deported. It is a political decision I am taking responsibility for."

He borrowed Trump's framing directly, declaring that from now on it would be "Colombians first, Colombians second and Colombians third." Bloomberg described the policy as a "Colombia First" crackdown.

In the same announcement he labeled every gang involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, extortion and smuggling as "terrorists and we will treat them as such. Whatever happens, we will defeat them, by reason or by force."