The Biden administration is restarting deportations of illegal immigrants to Venezuela, officials said Thursday, vowing “harsh” consequences for those who try to jump the border moving forward.

An administration official said officials already have a group of Venezuelans in mind for the first flight, which will take place “in the next few days.”

“Today’s announcement is a key part of our continuing efforts to strengthen the consequences that are in place at the border for migrants who cross unlawfully,” the senior official told reporters.

The policy applies to Venezuelans who enter between the legal border crossings. It does not apply to Venezuelans who don’t have a visa to enter but schedule their arrivals anyway, seeking to take advantage of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ “parole” programs.

The move stands in contrast with a decision Mr. Mayorkas made just weeks ago to grant a deportation amnesty to migrants who made it to the U.S. before the end of July.

In declaring Temporary Protected Status on Sept. 20, Mr. Mayorkas said the South American country was in turmoil and wasn’t safe enough to take back hundreds of thousands of migrants who made it here.

Officials didn’t have a good answer for what changed in the last two weeks to make removals palatable, saying only that it’s common practice to deport some people even as countries have been designated for TPS.

Those who arrived before July 31 won’t be targets.

Officials promised a “significant” number of flights back to Venezuela, and said the Maduro government, which has been at odds with the U.S. for years, has agreed to work with taking the deportees back.

The deportation announcement came a day after Mr. Mayorkas announced he has waived 26 laws in order to speed construction of miles of border wall in southern Texas.

The one-two punch seems intended to get a handle on the surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border — a problem that has plagued the Biden administration from its first days, but has risen to new heights in recent weeks.
From May 1 to Aug. 31, Customs and Border Protection encountered more than 1 million unauthorized migrants.

A senior official said Thursday that roughly 300,000 migrants have been ousted since May 12. The official didn’t say what happened to the others, though it’s likely most were caught and released.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.