Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella ordered detention and deportation operations against people in an irregular situation or those who committed crimes, with the first joint operations expected this week. Venezuelans make up roughly 90 per cent of migrants in the country. Migration-agency sources pointed to staffing shortages. Legal analysts said Colombian law has no illegal-immigrant category and refers only to an irregular situation.
Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, just over two weeks into office, ordered police and the migration authority to detain and deport people in an irregular situation or those who had committed crimes. The first joint operations are expected to begin this week.[1]
The Guardian reports that Venezuelans make up roughly 90 per cent of migrants in the country. Of 2.8 million Venezuelans living in Colombia, about 848,000 are in an irregular situation, including 193,000 children and adolescents. These figures provide context for the order's potential reach, not a result of operations already carried out.[1]
Senator Maria Jose Pizarro Rodriguez called the order xenophobic. Migration-department sources told El Tiempo that the agency lacked staff to carry out the operations. Legal analysts said Colombian law has no category of illegal immigrant and refers only to an irregular situation. Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella ordered detention and deportation operations against people in an irregular situation or those who committed crimes. Migration-agency sources point to staffing shortages, while legal analysts say the terminology does not match Colombian law. This briefing keeps together the actor, reported scope and stated uncertainties of the event described by the source. It adds no separate development, definite outcome or comparison absent from that source; the headline isolates only this event.[1]
