Trump’s Venezuela military escalation forces halt to deportation flights

The latest US military escalation involving Venezuela has halted flights carrying illegal migrants from the United States to the South American country, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said, drawing criticism from anti-intervention voices.

president Donald Trump Pilots warned Saturday that the airspace “over and around” Venezuela should be “completely closed” while his administration studies possible strikes on targets in and around Caracas.

“With this action, the United States government unilaterally suspended the flights of Venezuelan migrants that were taking place on a regular and weekly basis as part of the repatriation of Venezuelans through the Vuelta a la Patria (Repatriation Plan),” the ministry said in a statement.

Deportation flights were one of the only areas of cooperation between Washington and the US government Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelan officials say nearly 14,000 citizens have been repatriated on charter flights twice a week in recent months.

Venezuela agrees to resume deportation flights in response to pressure from Trump

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continued to move forward with its plans to end temporary protected status for about 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States.

“Genius. Enough of this immigration enforcement nonsense. Let’s get back to True MAGA — the neocon wars that exacerbate and cause immigration crises. It’s time,” said Curt Mills, executive editor of The American Conservative, criticizing the shift toward military action.

So far, US strikes have targeted alleged drug traffickers operating in the region Caribbean Sea near Venezuela. But officials indicated that the operations may expand to include ground targets as Washington increases pressure on Maduro to relinquish power.

Rubio says Venezuela will face “severe and escalating sanctions” if it does not accept its citizens

Dozens of US bombers have deployed to the region alongside the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, underscoring the scale of the military buildup. With American bombers and Ford vehicles already in the region, most of the world is waiting to see if Trump will greenlight the next phase of the war. Strikes against Venezuelan targets.

Venezuelan migrants returning to their homeland from the US gesture are seen as they arrive at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, April 4, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Venezuelan migrants airlifted from Guantanamo Bay via Honduras climb a ladder after arriving on a deportation flight at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira state, Venezuela, February 20, 2025. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

Trump confirmed that he spoke with Maduro on the phone recently.

“I can’t say it went good or bad. It was a phone call,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

Trump gave Maduro an ultimatum: either step down or face possible US military action. The Miami Herald reported that Maduro had sought a universal pardon for himself, demanded to retain control of the military and resisted an immediate exit from power.

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Conservative foreign policy analysts have sounded the alarm against regime-change-driven intervention in Venezuela, saying such a move could make migration patterns worse.

A report by Evan Cooper and Alessandro Peri, analysts at the Stimson Centre, claimed that “escalatory dynamics could lead to regional instability and hostility, with migration flows being among the most predictable consequences.” In the absence of a credible transitional structure within Venezuela, external pressure is more likely to deepen the chaos—prompting more Venezuelans to flee—rather than bring about political change.

Libertarian foreign policy analysts have issued similar warnings.

“U.S. military pressure on Venezuela is more likely to exacerbate instability than to bring about meaningful political change,” said Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, adding that history shows that “coercion in Venezuela leads to unpredictable outcomes and episodes of mass flight.”

George A. said: “Escalation without a stable political alternative inside Venezuela risks accelerating the very migration pressures that Washington is trying to contain,” said Lopez, a senior analyst at the Quincy Institute.