Pedro Naranjo, a Venezuelan air force lieutenant, and his father fled to the United States together due to fear of being jailed for plotting against Nicolás Maduro’s socialist government. The retired Gen.
Pedro Naranjo is currently in legal limbo in the U.S., while his son, a Venezuelan air force lieutenant, is in a Venezuelan military prison after being deported by the Biden administration as part of an attempt to discourage asylum-seekers from the country.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will discuss the Venezuelan diaspora’s migration challenges with President Andres Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City.
Last year, Mexico ended visa-free travel for Venezuelans, which had been a ticket to those seeking asylum in the U.S. Restricting flights to Mexico encouraged walking through the Darién Gap, leading to over a half-million migrants, predominantly Venezuelan, traversing the jungle at the border of Colombia and Panama this year.
The resumption of U.S. deportation flights to Venezuela has failed to stem the surge, with Venezuelans arrested more than 85,000 times crossing the border illegally in October and November. Critics and Venezuelan exiles in south Florida are criticizing the Biden administration for overlooking the serious risks faced by deportees like Naranjo, who was deported and arrested by Maduro. Ernesto Ackerman, a member of a group that opposes the deportation of Venezuelan President Maduro Naranjo, compared the process to sending a US drug agent to a drug cartel.
US efforts to improve Venezuelan relations include deporting key ally Maduro, easing oil sanctions on OPEC, and a presidential pardon for a key Maduro ally held on U.S. money-laundering charges. The Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign failed to topple Maduro.
The Naranjos’ situation has been a topic of discussion. In 2018, Gen. Naranjo was arrested for plotting to assassinate Maduro, disrupt Venezuela’s presidential election, and was court-martialed on charges including rebellion and treason. In 2021, he was hospitalized after suffering a stroke in prison. Under international pressure, he was allowed to complete his sentence at home.
Naranjo and his son fled Colombia in late 2022, crossing the Rio Grande to the U.S. due to safety concerns from leftist ally Maduro and Marxist rebels. They surrendered to the U.S. Border Patrol on October 4.
A new rule introduced in May applies a higher standard to migrants crossing the border illegally after passing through another country, like Mexico, without seeking protection there. The Biden administration introduced a new legal avenue for migrants to seek asylum, including a mobile app for appointments at official crossings, despite a temporary halt in illegal crossings.
It is unclear why Naranjo’s asylum request was rejected, and his father appealed the asylum officer’s initial determination that he wouldn’t face retaliation if returned to Venezuela to a federal immigration judge in Pearsall, Texas, but lost.
Asylum-seekers are entitled to call attorneys before screening interviews, but many advocates complain that those detained get little notice and are unable to find help. Venezuelans who clear screening do relatively well before immigration judges, with an asylum grant rate of 72% in the government’s fiscal year ended Sept. 30, compared to 52% for all nationalities.
