Month: January 2025

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced he will be imposing retaliatory measures against Colombia, including ’emergency 25% tariffs’ and visa sanctions – this after the nation denied entry to two U.S. military deportation flights. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department confirmed to NBC News that the flights, carried out on U.S. military C-17 aircraft, were denied. They were carrying about 80 Colombian migrants each and had departed from California. An administration official told CNN that Colombian authorities approved the two flights before they took off,  but those plans were abruptly scrapped. Discussions between U.S. and Colombian officials remain ongoing.

Earlier in the day, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced he had blocked two US military flights carrying migrants heading toward the country. Petro’s office wrote that the flights were not halted because he didn’t want to facilitate the return of Colombians back into his country, but because the government was prioritizing “dignified conditions” for the migrants: “the Government of Colombia, under the leadership of President Gustavo Petro, has arranged for the presidential plane to facilitate the dignified return of Colombian nationals who were to arrive in the country today in the morning hours, coming from deportation flights. This measure responds to the Government’s commitment to guarantee dignified conditions. In no way have Colombians, as patriots and subjects of rights, been or will be banished from Colombian territory.”  

In response to Petro, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post: “I was just informed that two repatriation flights from the United States, with a large number of Illegal Criminals, were not allowed to land in Colombia. This order was given by Colombia’s Socialist President Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people. Petro’s denial of these flights has jeopardized the National Security and Public Safety of the United States, so I have directed my Administration to immediately take the following urgent and decisive retaliatory measures —

• • -Emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the United States. In one week, the 25% tariffs will be raised to 50%.
  • -A Travel Ban and immediate Visa Revocations on the Colombian Government Officials, and all Allies and Supporters.
  • -Visa Sanctions on all Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian Government.
  • -Enhanced Customs and Border Protection Inspections of all Colombian Nationals and Cargo on national security grounds.
  • -IEEPA Treasury, Banking and Financial Sanctions to be fully imposed.

These measures are just the beginning. We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!”

The military deportation flights are part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, initiated through executive orders during Trump’s first week in office. The Trump administration has also deployed an additional 1,500 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to strengthen enforcement.

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President Donald Trump terminated the independent inspectors general from over a dozen federal agencies. effective immediately. An inspector general is often referred to as a cabinet department’s watchdog and responsible for policing efficiency and corruption among other things, with a definition from the Department of Homeland Security reading that “[they] conduct independent and objective audits and investigations relating to DHS programs and operations.”

Per USA TODAY, as many as 17 were let go without notice by email, despite federal law requiring 30 days notice to Congress to remove an inspector general. The inspectors general are independent watchdogs within agencies who investigate and disclose waste, fraud and abuse.

An email late Friday from Sergio Gor, the head of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, was sent to agency inspectors informing them that “changing priorities”  led to their positions being “terminated, effective immediately” — which included those in the departments of State, Energy, the Interior, Defense and Transportation. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUB) Inspector General Inspector Rae Oliver Davis was among those let go, along with the inspector generals from the departments of housing, education, agriculture, commerce, interior, labor and transportation among those fired.  Inspector generals at the Pentagon, Department of Veterans Affairs and State Department were also among those terminated.

Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the move, writing on X: “In the dark of night, President Trump fired at least 12 independent inspector generals at important federal agencies across the Administration. A chilling purge. It’s a preview of the lawless approach Donald Trump and his administration is taking to being President … Donald Trump’s decision to fire twelve of the federal government’s independent watchdogs is a glaring sign that it’s a Golden Age for corruption and abuse in government.”

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