The Biden Administration announced this Thursday that the direct repatriation of Venezuelans who cross the border illegally and do not have a legal basis to remain in the country will resume.

The Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, Alejandro Mayorkas, announced that the government has decided to deport Venezuelan citizens who arrived illegally in the country after July 31, as reported by AP.

The information was confirmed by another senior US official who added that the Venezuelan regime agreed to receive the deported immigrants. Likewise, it was announced that Venezuelans already in federal custody “will be removed promptly in the coming days.” However, it was not specified how many Venezuelans there are currently or when the deportation would take place.

It should be noted that the United States has deported several Venezuelans in the past but was doing so in relatively small numbers, through third countries and on commercial flights.

Does the decision contradict TPS extensions?

This announcement came just a few weeks after the Biden Administration decided to extend the immigration permit known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans who arrived in the United States before July 31 of this year. However, one of the administration officials assures that the deportations are not contradictory to the TPS extensions.

“We, as a matter of policy and as a matter of historical practice, continue to remove individuals to countries(...) after the date of the TPS designation. So this is not something any new or different from the long-standing practice of this administration, but really all previous administrations,” he said.

Last month, Venezuelans made up the largest group present at the US-Mexico border. According to the Customs and Border Protection Office, in just one day, 6,500 migrants of this nationality were registered trying to cross.

More than 427,000 Venezuelans eligible for TPS

In addition to Venezuelan citizens still trying to enter the United States illegally, there are already 242,700 TPS beneficiaries in the country, and according to the Department of Homeland Security, the recent permission extension would make approximately 472,000 additional Venezuelan citizens eligible for the new allocation.