MIAMI – President Donald Trump’s administration has deported Venezuelan migrants to Trinidad and Tobago, according to Sen. Robert Menendez.
Menendez, a Democrat who serves in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security requesting more information about the deportations.
“U.S. law forbids the forcible return of refugees to a place where their lives or freedom would be threatened," Menendez wrote. “U.S. regulations have suspended all air travel to Venezuela, and U.S. foreign policy should be to counter the Maduro regime’s systematic abuses.”
With the Nov. 3 presidential election approaching, Democrats are reminding voters that former Vice President Joe Biden promised that if he is elected he will grant Venezuelan migrants a temporary protected status. Trump recognized Juan Guaidó as the president of Venezuela, and he has imposed sanctions.
Syracuse University’s Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse reports about 30 to 40% of asylum cases for Venezuelan refugees are being denied.
The coronavirus pandemic’s recession is causing another exodus. Protests continue to be a regular occurrence in Caracas. The National Assembly elections are in December, but since Maduro excluded three of the four opposition political parties there is little hope for change.