The US deported them to Venezuela – a few hours after the earthquake struck
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees US immigration enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), shared a statement, but did not provide details on the case when asked by the BBC.
“The flight arrived safely in Venezuela and all illegal aliens on board have been repatriated,” a DHS spokesperson told the BBC on Tuesday. “Once someone is no longer in ICE custody, ICE is no longer responsible for them.”
As part of efforts to make the US border more secure, the Trump administration has detained and deported thousands of illegal immigrants to the US, including suspected terrorists and gang members, while millions of others have left voluntarily, according to US officials.
Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in February that, in the past 13 months, “nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the US … including an estimated 2.2 million deportables and more than 713,000.”
Venezuelan authorities accommodated last week’s deportees – reportedly including 19 women and seven children – at the Santuario La Llanada hotel in the town of La Guaira after medical examinations and obtaining documents. The area was hit hard by widespread damage and collapsed buildings.
The Venezuelan government has posted numbers for the public to call, but information has been limited following the country’s devastating disaster.
Many of the passengers on the plane like Rincon had contacted family to let them know they were back in Venezuela – just before the earthquake.
Rincón’s grandfather, Jose Rincón, told BBC Mundo that he looked at at least 200 bodies, including a mortuary in Caracas, in search of his 23-year-old grandson.
He even tried to visit the remains of the destroyed hotel, where his grandson and other exiles lived.
Access is blocked by Venezuelan authorities, who have told the grandfather there is “no life” in the area.
“If we could see what we have to see – if I could see the wreckage, I would be satisfied – but days have gone by and I haven’t found him dead or alive… So what should I do?” Rincon told the BBC.
Darwin Eliecer Serrano Lopez, 35, called his cousin at 17:32 local time saying that he had returned home after four years of living in the US. The first tremor struck just after half an hour.
“We called all night,” said his cousin, Paola Chacón, whose brother first received the call to tell the family that Serrano Lopez had returned to Venezuela.
Lopez was arrested in Chicago, then held in four jails before US authorities put him on a flight out of the country, relatives said.
Chacón left believing his cousin was dead, he told BBC Mundo on Monday – and the family had been searching for almost a week without any sign of him.
“Many days have passed… we are not getting answers,” he said.
But “we will stay here until we take it.” [Darwin’s body] at home,” he said.
