This article originally appeared in The Dispatch on January 28, 2025.
On Sunday morning, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced that Colombia was suspending permission for previously authorized U.S. deportation flights to land in Colombia. Ostensibly driving Petro’s action were concerns that Colombian nationals were not being treated with respect during the deportation process because they were being transported by military aircraft.
President Donald Trump quickly declared a range of punitive measures in response, including suspension of visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Colombia, visa sanctions on Colombian government officials and their families, and a 25 percent tariff on Colombian goods, among others. Later Sunday, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said his nation would agree to accept deportation flights, and by Monday afternoon it had sent a military plane of its own to San Diego to transport Colombian nationals awaiting deportation.
While U.S.-Colombia relations have deteriorated significantly in the span of only a few days, the underlying issues behind the rift have been simmering for several years.
How has immigration shaped the U.S.-Colombia relationship in recent years?
The U.S. has historically been a major destination for Colombian immigration. The Colombian diaspora in the U.S. is estimated to be over 1.5 million, making it the seventh largest Latin American diaspora in the country.
The U.S. and Colombia have subsequently developed a good relationship in recent years, which has included a free trade agreement and Colombia’s designation as a major non-NATO ally.
However, two major changes have complicated the U.S.-Colombia relationship in recent years. The first is the increasing number of Colombian nationals who have immigrated to the U.S. via irregular channels. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 97,000 encounters with Colombian nationals at the southern border in 2024 alone. The majority of these migrants have presented themselves as asylum seekers fleeing political violence from left-wing paramilitaries who are still highly active in parts of Colombia where the government has been unable to negotiate ceasefires.