Colombia’s President orders deportation drive against illegal migrants

Colombia’s right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered authorities to intensify action against irregular migration, directing immigration officials to detain undocumented foreigners convicted of crimes and begin procedures for their deportation.

The directive was revealed in a video that surfaced on Monday, showing De la Espriella addressing a security cabinet meeting in Barranquilla on Sunday.

In the footage, the president instructed immigration authorities to prioritise foreigners involved in criminal activities and those whose immigration status had not been regularised.

“The order to immigration authorities is clear… first, those who are committing crimes; second, those who have not regularised their status and who will have to be deported in due course,” he said.

De la Espriella said deportation procedures would commence during the week under what he described as a presidential directive, stressing that his administration would not accept undocumented migration regardless of the migrants’ countries of origin.

“I will not accept illegal migrants, no matter where they come from,” he said.

The president, a hardline lawyer who assumed office on August 7, campaigned on a platform focused heavily on tackling crime and drug-trafficking guerrilla groups.

However, his administration temporarily shifted its attention from that agenda following a powerful earthquake on August 10 that killed more than 300 people in western Colombia and destroyed thousands of homes.

At the security meeting, De la Espriella also echoed the nationalist approach associated with US President Donald Trump, whom he has openly admired.

“Colombians first, Colombians second, Colombians third, may that be clear to everyone,” he said.

Colombia hosts an estimated three million Venezuelans who have crossed the border over the past decade to escape Venezuela’s prolonged economic and political crisis.

Previous right-wing administrations in Colombia had generally adopted a more accommodating approach towards Venezuelan migrants, viewing many of them as victims of the policies of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who was removed from power by US forces in January.