President Donald Trump has already begun deporting illegal aliens who have been convicted of other crimes, and one South American country has refused to allow a U.S. plane carrying criminal illegal aliens to land, in what Trump says is a violation of its legal obligations.
Trump announced tariffs, a travel ban, and sanctions against members of the Colombian government in response.
“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,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social Sunday. “This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people.”
“Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures,” Trump added.
The measures include: “emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States,” which will increase to 50% in one week; a travel ban and visa revocations on Colombian government officials; enhanced Customs and Border Protection inspections of all Colombian nationals and cargo on national security grounds; and sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
According to OFAC Law Group, the act grants the president authority to deal with unusual and extraordinary threats to national security by reforming economic policies.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump added. “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!”
Petro, the Colombian leader, wrote on X that the U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals, and he announced that he would deny the entry of American planes carrying Colombians back to their original country. He demanded the U.S. establish a protocol to treat migrants with dignity before his country would receive them.
The U.S. and Colombia have a dual criminality extradition treaty. While Petro promised to re-evaluate this treaty, it appears to still be in effect.
This is a breaking news story and may be updated.
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
