Colombian President Gustavo Petro has said that his country will deny entry to deportation flights coming from the United States, a wrinkle in President Donald Trump’s immigration plans.
Petro shared his thoughts in a post to social media on Sunday, saying that the flights will not be allowed to leave.
“The US cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals,” Petro shared on X. “I deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory.”
Trump’s administration announced last week that flights on military aircraft with migrants on board have begun.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared photos of handcuffed people boarding a military plane in a post to X, sharing that deportations had started.
“Deportation flights have begun,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”
Part of Trump’s immigration plan includes having the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrest migrants who entered the US illegally across the country before sending them back to their home countries on planes.
Petro slammed Trump over his handling of the country’s immigration system, saying that his conditions were rushed and not planned out.
“The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them,” Petro said.
Petro shared in other posts that thousands of Americans are living without legal status in Colombia. He said those individuals should contact Colombia’s immigration services to receive help.
“Migrants are human beings and subjects of rights and should be treated as such,” he wrote.
However, the former president didn’t seem to be a fan of the response from Petro, sharing Sunday that he would be placing tariffs, a travel ban, and other measures on the country after two planes were rejected.
“I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump said that “denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States.”
Because of this, Trump says he has “directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures.” These include US-bound goods facing 25% tariffs and a prohibition of travel “on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters.”
“These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!” Trump said.