Migration & Borders
Colombia president orders migrant deportation crackdown
Colombia's President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered a crackdown on irregular migration, instructing authorities to detain undocumented foreigners convicted of crimes with a view to deporting them.
In video footage of a security meeting in Barranquilla on Sunday, De la Espriella said: “I will not accept illegal migrants, no matter where they come from.”
He said immigration authorities had been told to focus first on people committing crimes and then on those who had not regularised their status and would have to be deported in due course. He said deportation procedures would start this week by presidential order.
AFP said it was not immediately clear whether that timeframe applied to Barranquilla, Colombia's fourth-largest city, or to the wider country.
De la Espriella, a right-wing lawyer, took office on August 7 with an agenda to fight crime and drug-trafficking guerrillas. Irregular migration was not a central theme of his campaign.
Colombia has been the main destination for Venezuelans fleeing the economic crisis across the border over the past decade. Colombia's immigration department said 2.8 million Venezuelans were living in the country as of June, including more than 527,000 undocumented people.
In the meeting, De la Espriella said: “Colombians, first, Colombians second, Colombians third, may that be clear to everyone.”
Update
Colombia's immigration department said 2.8 million Venezuelans were living in Colombia as of June, including more than 527,000 undocumented people.
AFP said it was not immediately clear whether deportation procedures starting this week referred to Barranquilla or the wider country.
The source describes the footage as video of De la Espriella chairing a security meeting in Barranquilla on Sunday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 24 August 2026 at 17:59:23 UTC.
Update
De la Espriella said deportation procedures would start this week under what he called a presidential order.
He said he would not accept illegal migrants, regardless of origin.
He took office on August 7 with an agenda focused on crime and drug-trafficking guerrillas.
His plan was put on hold after an August 10 earthquake that killed more than 300 people in western Colombia and destroyed thousands of homes.
Colombia is home to an estimated three million Venezuelans who fled economic and political crisis over the past decade.
Source note: AFP news report published on 24 August 2026 at 16:38:12 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
It was not immediately clear whether the order for deportation procedures to start this week applied to Barranquilla or to the wider country.
Source
AFP news report published on .