Colombia's Far-Right President Announces Immigration Crackdown, Vows Mass Deportations; Left-Wing Leaders Slams Move

Bogota: Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella has unveiled plans for a major crackdown on immigration, instructing authorities to detain and deport individuals living in the country without proper documentation or those found to have committed crimes.

The announcement, made just two weeks into his presidency, came on Sunday as Colombia continues grappling with the aftermath of a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake on August 10, which left more than 300 people dead and destroyed upwards of 30,000 homes.

During a cabinet session, de la Espriella said joint operations between police and migration officials would get underway within days, prioritising criminal offenders first, followed by those lacking regularised status, who would face swift deportation.

Adopting a language reminiscent of his ally, US President Donald Trump, de la Espriella declared his administration's guiding principle would be putting Colombians "first, second and third." His approach mirrors that of other Trump-aligned regional leaders who have moved to tighten immigration rules across Latin America.

Human rights groups and opposition politicians have pushed back against the announcement, warning it threatens to unravel a migration framework that had remained relatively stable across successive left- and right-leaning governments for more than ten years — one that had particularly supported migrants escaping Venezuela's ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Venezuelans form majority of migrant community

Though the president stopped short of naming Venezuelans specifically, they represent close to 90 percent of Colombia's migrant population. Among the 2.8 million Venezuelans residing in the country, roughly 848,000 remain undocumented, a group that includes 193,000 minors.

Senator Maria Jose Pizarro Rodriguez, from the left, criticised the move online, asking whether the president intended to build a Colombian equivalent of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency aimed at fellow Latin Americans. She characterised the deportation directive as an expression of xenophobia and aporophobia, urging the government instead to regularise migrants' status, noting the economic contributions made by many who work hard despite their circumstances.