Crisis Colombia-EE.UU.: Priest asks not to use migrants as a political weapon

The director of the Clamor Colombia Network, P. Arturo Arrieta, who watches over the displaced and refugees in the region, asked that migrants not be “instrumentalized in political disputes” following the recent diplomatic friction between the governments of Colombia and the United States .

“Beyond being a diplomatic conflict, it reflects a difficult reality for thousands of migrants who, looking for a better future, end up being instrumentalized in political disputes,” said Father Arrieta to Ewtn News.

The priest referred to the situation generated by the mass deportations carried out by the US Government of Donald Trump.

In July 2024, The newspaper El Tiempo (requires subscription) reported that in the United States there would be 237,000 undocumented Colombian immigrants. The media was based on a report by the Institute for the Migration Policy to which it had access, together with data from the United States Census, the Department of National Security (DHS) and the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CPB).

In the case of Colombia, the beginning of mass deportations resulted in a diplomatic confrontation after, during the early hours of Sunday 26, Colombian President Gustavo Petro will announce on the social network X that would not allow the entry of two US military planes with 160 deported until they were given a “dignified treatment”, amid complaints that migrants returned handcuffs.

At that time the ships were already in full flight and had to return to the United States. The White House protested because, according to Colombia, Colombia had approved the entrance of the airplanes.

In addition, Trump ordered to suspend the issuance of visas at the embassy in Bogotá and announced a 25% tariff to Colombian products, with the possibility of increasing it to 50%. Petro responded by saying that he would also impose a 25% tariff to imports from the United States.

These exchanges lit alarms in Colombia, the main ally of the United States in the region on issues such as anti -narcotics struggle. In addition, 30% of Colombian exports go to the North American country.

After several hours, the Colombian Foreign Ministry overcome the impasse on Sunday night. According to the White House, the Colombian Government accepted Trump’s terms as far as deportations are concerned.

They return with their “frustrated” dreams

In statements to Ewtn News, the director of Cáritas Colombiana, P. Mauricio Rey Sepúlveda, referred to the deported migrants of the United States as “ours brothers who arrive with frustrated dreams.”

Father Sepúlveda said that these people had migrated with aspirations to grow, and although returning to the country can be a “motive of joy”, the “psychosocial accompaniment, spiritual accompaniment, that is, an integral intervention is needed.”

For his part, Fr. Arturo Arrieta said that deported migrants “are human beings like us, who question our conscience.”

“The most comfortable is passivity. Those of us who feel insert in our society for our origin, family, work, culture, we run the risk of not having sufficient sensitivity to react to unfair situations of those who, like migrants, are not in our condition, ”he said.

For some time, Cáritas Colombiana accompanies migrants with initiatives such as “building bridges towards integration”, a project funded by the United States government that, during 2024, benefited more than 24,000 people; between migrants, refugees and Colombians returned or low economic resources.

However, this program could be harmed by the Trump administration’s decision to suspend foreign aid for 90 days, during which each support will be evaluated to verify if it agrees with the American president’s agenda.