Colombia’s right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered an immigration crackdown, instructing authorities to begin detaining undocumented foreigners convicted of crimes with a view to deporting them.
The hardline lawyer, who took office on August 7 after campaigning on fighting crime and drug-trafficking guerrillas, made the announcement in video footage of him chairing a security meeting in his Caribbean stronghold of Barranquilla on Sunday.
He said he would not accept illegal migrants regardless of where they came from, and that immigration authorities had been given clear orders: first target those committing crimes, then those who have not regularised their status, who will be deported in due course.
De la Espriella said deportation procedures would begin this week by presidential order.
Colombia has been the main destination for Venezuelans fleeing economic crisis at home over the past decade.
According to Colombia’s immigration department, about 2.8 million Venezuelans were living in the country as of June, more than 527,000 of them undocumented.
Previous right-wing leaders had shown tolerance toward Venezuelan migrants, viewing them as victims of the socialist policies of ousted president Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez. Before Venezuela’s crisis, Colombia had itself been a country of emigration, with six decades of armed conflict driving millions abroad, some to Venezuela.
In his first days in office, which coincided with a powerful earthquake that killed more than 300 people in western Colombia, De la Espriella had presented himself as a unifier.
On Sunday, however, he struck a different tone, echoing the “America First” rhetoric of US President Donald Trump, of whom he is an admirer, declaring: “Colombians first, Colombians second, Colombians third, may that be clear to everyone.”
