Several of the 200 Venezuelan migrants repatriated from Honduras in recent hours have reported physical and psychological abuse while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prior to their deportation.
In videos posted on social media, they report physical assault, confiscation of belongings, and degrading treatment by U.S. immigration authorities.
“That was the worst, the worst. They treat you badly, like kicks. There in the tents, they came at me with a vengeance and took my belongings, my ID, my money, and my phone,” said one of the deportees, quoted by TeleSur.
“The treatment from the beginning was truly aggressive. We have experienced many psychological, emotional, and physical traumas. Truly, the mistreatment in the conditions in which we were held in the facilities, how we were transferred, how we were treated, in terms of our health, how our rights were truly violated,” another migrant recounted. “Many of those present here experienced physical aggression that still manifests itself in their bodies to this day,” he added.
Several of them have reported that they were treated like criminals simply because of their appearance. “It’s inhumane treatment. They treated us extremely badly. They treated us like slaves. They want to treat us like criminals simply because we have a tattoo, the name of someone’s child,” said another migrant, who claims to be a singer.
“Not all of us are criminals, the way they treat us. I, for example, am a trained professional, a professional singer. I have all my platforms active. My family, my two children, remained there,” he added.
One of the migrants was detained for ten months before being deported. “The immigration treatment has been too brutal. We have good testimonies and all that. So we’re close to reaching our country, which is what we want. Thank you for welcoming us,” he explained.
The Venezuelan government announced this Monday the arrival of a group of 199 Venezuelans at Simón Bolívar International Airport in La Guaira, just outside Caracas, aboard a plane from Honduras, which confirmed the transfer was part of a joint operation with US authorities.
