Colombia’s right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella has ordered a crackdown on illegal migration, instructing authorities to begin detaining undocumented foreigners convicted of crimes with a view to deporting them, a video showed Monday.
In the leaked video of De la Espriella addressing a security cabinet meeting Sunday in his Caribbean stronghold of Barranquilla, he is heard saying: “The order to Immigration (authorities) is clear…first those who are committing crimes, second those who have not regularized their status and who will have to be deported in due course.”
“I will not accept illegal migrants, no matter where they come from,” he said, announcing the start of deportation procedures “this week” under what he called a presidential order.
The hardline lawyer took office on August 7 with an agenda to fight crime and drug-trafficking guerrillas.
He put that plan on hold in the wake of a powerful August 10 earthquake, which left over 300 people dead in the west of the country and destroyed thousands of homes. Related News Army arrests three suspected gun runners in Zamfara, rescues six Man jailed 12 years for rape, sexual assault while on bail American jailed 10 years for using ChatGPT to plan bank robbery
