Deportees at the center of Trump’s spat with Colombia: ‘We are not drug traffickers’

Carlos Arias never imagined finding himself in the middle of an international conflict between the world’s leading power and his home country, Colombia. On Sunday, he was placed on a military plane, handcuffed and shackled. He and the other 200 deportees were treated “like dogs” by U.S. immigration agents. During the entire journey, they were forced to keep their heads on their knees. If they tried to use the bathroom, they were laughed at. U.S. President Donald Trump called them criminals, while Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, enraged by the undignified treatment, refused to let them land. The situation was repeated with a second flight. Trump then threatened a trade war that could have devastated the Colombian economy. “We were tied up for 12 hours,” Arias recalls. The 34-year-old waiter was treated like a terrorist.

On Tuesday morning, a Mexican tourist at El Dorado airport in Bogotá mistakenly thought an international star was arriving. Amused, city hall officials quickly corrected him, explaining that two Colombian Air Force flights had arrived with 201 deportees from the U.S. The attention was understandable: unlike the other 475 deportation flights over the last five years, these flights sparked Trump’s threat to ruined Colombia’s economy.

Minutes later, the first migrants began to disembark. Among them were 26 girls and boys, escorted by the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF). They wore face masks and carried transparent plastic bags with the few belongings they had left after U.S. authorities confiscated their suitcases. Some were too tired to speak and just wanted to head home quickly. Others were eager to share the mistreatment they had endured in the U.S. “They treated us like dogs,” said Daniel Figueroa.

These abuses were even worse than those reported during the administration of Democratic president Joe Biden. Upon learning that the migrants were arriving in handcuffs on a military plane, Petro refused to allow the planes to land, forcing them to return to San Diego (California) and El Paso (Texas). Trump didn’t sit idly by, seizing the opportunity to send a harsh message to the world. He announced 25% tariffs, canceled visas for Colombian officials, and suspended the issuance of visas from the Bogotá Embassy. “These measures are just the beginning,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “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.”

The migrants say they had no idea of the magnitude of the situation. Arias, from Medellín, explains that U.S. authorities provided them with fragmented information. According to his account, the flight on Sunday unfolded like this: it left San Diego, made an emergency landing in Houston due to medical issues involving several passengers, continued to Colombia, returned to the U.S., and finally landed in El Paso. Throughout this ordeal, they were forced to keep their heads on their knees — due to the shackles — had difficulty using the bathroom and endured constant mockery. They were then returned to a holding cell in El Paso, given vague explanations like the Colombian government not approving the landing permits in time.

As time passed, however, the migrants learned the full scope of events through calls with relatives. They also heard the violent comments Trump made about them on Monday. “We were being scolded because we had them in shackles in an airplane and he [Petro] said, ‘this is no way to treat people,’” Trump said. “You’ve got to understand, these are murderers, drug lords, gang members, just the toughest people you’ve ever met or seen.”

Arias responds that he is not a drug trafficker and migrated to the U.S. to be with family. “We are good people. We’re trying to save our lives and help our families.” Daniel Oquendo, a 33-year-old mechanic, added: “You can look at my history — I’ve never been involved in drug trafficking. He judges others and generalizes. It’s as if we said all Americans are murderers because there are shootings there all the time.”

Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo confirmed on Tuesday that none of the 201 deported migrants have a criminal record, either in Colombia or in the United States. “They are not criminals,” he said.

Petro, for his part, expressed his support for the deportees through social media and once again challenged Trump’s stigmatization of them. “They are Colombians, they are free and dignified, and they are in their homeland, where they are loved. The migrant is not a criminal; he is a human being who wants to work, progress, and live life,” he declared.

The migrants at El Dorado airport echoed similar sentiments. Some stressed that they are fleeing violence, while others are simply seeking better economic opportunities.

Arias and Oquendo, who became friends during their days in detention, are now without shoelaces (which were also taken) and carrying only plastic bags with their few belongings. They are trying to figure out how to continue their journey to Medellín.

Arias, in particular, is deeply frustrated by the mistreatment he endured in the U.S. He recalls working in a hotel in Medellín, where he frequently encountered Americans who came to his city to engage in criminal activities. “They come to consume cocaine and sexually exploit minors. That’s worse than what we do,” he says, explaining that he was trying to escape the violence of his home country. He adds that he is displaced from the armed conflict, and that the perpetrators were released after completing their sentences in November.

Oquendo agreed: “Trump needs to look more inward before looking outward.”

The shackles

The Trump administration announced on Sunday night that the crisis had been resolved after Colombia backed down from its demands. The Colombian Foreign Ministry, in more diplomatic language, assured that it would continue “receiving citizens who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions.” However, fulfilling this commitment to improve the conditions for deportees remains a challenge. Colombia has been raising concerns about mistreatment for years, yet little has changed.

Juan González, former Latin American advisor to Biden, acknowledged on Monday that these conditions were present during the previous administration as well. “Sometimes it is not known whether the people being deported have a criminal record [...]. When you see them handcuffed on camera, it’s a little offensive. But you have to recognize that it’s for the safety [of the crew],” he said on W Radio.

The major difference this time was that Trump sent the migrants on military planes, and Petro, outraged by this degrading detail, decided to have them returned on Colombian planes. While still military aircraft, the new arrangement meant the migrants were no longer handcuffed or subjected to verbal abuse. Many migrants, like Jhony and Daniel Figueroa from Putumayo, a department on the border with Ecuador, are deeply grateful to Petro. “What he did is good because now we are here in good shape. He is enforcing our rights,” they say. “The guards there, on the other hand, are trained to torture. They would say to us, ‘What’s the big deal? Do you want me to make you disappear?’”

Arias and Oquendo partially agree with the new approach but still harbor some resentment towards Petro. They acknowledge that their journey was much more comfortable, but they don’t overlook their feelings of being used. “If he had received us on Sunday, we would have saved ourselves two more days in jail. I feel used. He does it to look like a savior, and that’s fine, but he should do it with the next ones [before they’re in flight],” says Oquendo.

Meanwhile, Liliana Gutiérrez is still waiting for her nephew, Mateo, a truck loader. She arrived in Bogotá after a nine-hour bus ride from Medellín, with the help of a coffee vendor who helped her get on public transportation to El Dorado. Standing to one side of the others, she leans against a window, looking through the baggage claim area. She shares that her sister told her that Mateo, 21, is emaciated. She insists her nephew was only traveling in search of better opportunities. Gutiérrez regrets that Trump’s words have tarnished the reputation of her people.

“He’s a healthy, hard-working young man, that’s it. Not like President Trump said, that they were criminals, bad people,” she says, breaking down. “He cannot say that they should fight with all the criminals, because my nephew is a child who went in search of better opportunities.”

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