Relatives are desperately searching for their loved ones after a hotel holding more than 100 Venezuelans who were deported by the US on Wednesday collapsed during deadly earthquakes that same evening. The deportees were taken to Hotel Santuario in La Guaira, a coastal city north of the capital, Caracas. Hours later, two once-in-a-century earthquakes struck Venezuela within seconds of each other, causing widespread damage across La Guaira, killing at least 1,700 people, with many more still missing.
Deportation and Earthquake
A deportation flight from Miami to Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar International Airport carrying 146 people, including 19 women and 7 children, landed at 10:22 a.m. local time Wednesday. Some of the deportees survived the hotel’s collapse, but many remain trapped in the rubble. Luis Armando Dasilva said he and his family have been anxiously waiting for five days for news about his sister, Amanda Donizete, who was deported Wednesday and has not been heard from since.
Rescuers have been combing through the rubble of the hotel in a desperate attempt to save any survivors. But days after the initial disaster, hope is dwindling. Some relatives of those missing told CNN they just want to be able to properly bury their loved ones. The US has sent search and rescue teams to Venezuela and committed more than $300 million to relief efforts so far.
US Deportation Policy
In October, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 300,000 Venezuelan migrants, who were permitted entry under a humanitarian relief program. Since then, the US has been deporting hundreds of people per week to Venezuela. In the month of May, the US deported 1,746 Venezuelans according to ICE Flight Monitor.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
