On Thursday, Joe Biden administration officials announced that deportation flights for Venezuelan migrants that had been suspended for several years will resume with the aim of discouraging migration to the United States.

The Venezuelan executive agreed to receive citizens of his country deported from the United States, something that has not been possible until now, as Washington and Caracas broke diplomatic relations in 2019 and the South American country is subjugated to strict economic sanctions.

The US did not provide details on how it managed to get Venezuela to accept the deportation flights again. Officials assured that they have been asking Nicolás Maduro’s government “for a long time” to “receive its citizens.”

New York’s mayor arrives in Quito on Friday to seek solutions to the needs of Ecuadorian migrants

In a statement, Maduro announced that “he has signed an agreement” that “allows for the orderly, safe and legal repatriation of Venezuelan citizens from the United States through the “Return to the Homeland” program.”

Referring to US sanctions, Caracas attributes migration to the “application of unilateral coercive measures and the blockade” of the economy.

Venezuelans are one of the groups contributing to this increase: in June, 11,506 people of this nationality were detained, and in August this number rose to 22,172.

US authorities have previously been unable to deport Venezuelans to their country who did not meet the requirements to remain legally in the US.

The officials indicated that they have already identified “several individuals” in their custody who will be returned to Venezuela on a first deportation flight “in the coming days.”

“It is a direct consequence for the individuals who have not taken advantage of the legal means of migration that we have extended,” the official said.

Since October last year, Joe Biden’s administration launched a humanitarian permit program known as “parole,” which allows Venezuelans who have a sponsor in the US to travel to the country.