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By Hunter Geisel
/ CBS Miami
MIAMI — President Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro are at odds with each other on Sunday after the latter’s government turned away two United States military aircraft carrying migrants who are being deported.
It did not take long for Mr. Trump to respond, announcing tariffs and sanctions against Colombia. His actions come as he spends the weekend at the Trump National Doral Resort in South Florida ahead of hosting a Republican conference.
Meanwhile, Petro ordered an increase in import tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation to Mr. Trump’s order, saying he has asked Colombia’s foreign trade minister to raise the tariffs by 25%.
Trump, a mi no me gusta mucho viajar a los EEUU, es un poco aburridor, pero confieso que hay cosas meritorias, me gusta ir a los barrios negros de Washington, allí ví una lucha entera en la capital de los EEUU entre negros y latinos con barricadas, que me pareció una pendejada,…
Colombia’s decision to block the U.S. deportation flights over the weekend is an early diplomatic setback for the Trump administration as it lays the foundation for its promised mass deportation campaign and crackdown on illegal immigration.
Colombians across South Florida are reacting to the feud, with some saying they side with Mr. Trump.
“I am not thinking that Trump is doing something bad,” said Sandra Quinones, the assistant manager at Mondongo’s, a local Colombian restaurant. “It’s perfectly understandable because, okay, what do you want to do with all these people? If I am sending them to your country and you say ‘no, okay,’ you need to do something because this is my country and I need to take of my country. Take care of your country, Petro.”
On Sunday, Petro said he rejected the deportation flights because the deportees were being transported in military aircraft, arguing such a move treated migrants as criminals.
“The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them,” Petro wrote on social media. He added that he would accept deportation flights, as long as they were conducted on civilian planes.
A U.S. official told CBS News that the Colombian migrants who were scheduled to be deported on Sunday on these planes are back in the U.S. and will remain in DHS custody until a new agreement is reached.
Two U.S. officials told CBS News there were two Department of Defense planes with migrant deportees expected to land in Colombia on Sunday, after departing the San Diego area near the southern border. But those plans were scrapped overnight.
One of the U.S. officials said the plan was to deport roughly 80 Colombian migrants on each military plane.
In response, Mr. Trump posted on social media that his administration would put in place several actions against Colombia, including a 25% tariff — that he said would be raised to 50% after one week — on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia.
He also announced a travel ban and “immediate visa revocation” for Colombian government officials and “their allies,” visa sanctions on Colombian authorities and their relatives and enhanced customs inspections on travelers and cargo from Colombia.
“These measures are just the beginning,” Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!”
A senior administration official said Mr. Trump’s actions amounted to “a clear message” to countries that they “have an obligation to accept repatriation flights.”
Hunter Geisel is a digital producer at CBS Miami. Hunter has previously produced digital content for local and national outlets, covering several topics from breaking news and current events to politics and pop culture.
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