A Colombian congresswoman has called on President Gustavo Petro to declare a state of emergency to accelerate the deportation of citizens currently held in US detention centers, describing a “humanitarian crisis” marked by inhumane conditions and medical neglect.
Representative Carmen Felisa Ramirez Boscan, who represents Colombians living abroad, made the plea following a tour of facilities in Alabama, Texas, and Florida. The lawmaker, a member of the Pacto Histórico coalition, reported that many detainees are so desperate to escape the US immigration system that they are willing to abandon valid asylum claims just to return home.
The proposal comes amid an intensified anti-immigration offensive by the Trump administration that has seen thousands of Colombians taken into custody. Ramírez Boscán argued that a formal emergency declaration would allow the Colombian government to bypass budgetary hurdles and provide additional aircraft to repatriate citizens. She noted that many individuals are suffering from physical and mental health declines due to what she characterized as illegal detentions by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The congresswoman says the deportations of Colombians from the US could save lives
During a visit to a facility in Montgomery, Alabama, the legislator spoke with 12 Colombian women who reported widespread untreated infections and a lack of basic medical attention. She highlighted the case of a 70-year-old woman who claimed to have been transported between centers while shackled at the neck, hands, and feet.
“They prefer to die in their country,” Ramírez Boscán said during a demonstration outside an ICE office in Miramar, Florida. “Many told me, ‘I don’t care if they kill me, but let them kill me in my own country.'”
The diplomatic landscape between Bogota and Washington remains complex. Last year, President Petro temporarily blocked US military deportation flights, condemning the practice of shackling migrants as a violation of human dignity.
Following a recent meeting at the White House, the two nations reached a compromise where deportations resumed using Colombian military aircraft at a rate of one flight per week. However, Ramírez Boscán argues this pace is insufficient, as an estimated 34,000 Colombians are currently facing deportation orders.
Will an independent international mission be created to inspect US facilities?
The congresswoman is also calling for the creation of an international verification mission. She hopes to gain support from other Latin American and European lawmakers to conduct independent inspections of US detention centers. This effort aims to pressure the US government to respect human rights and due process, a move that the US Department of Homeland Security has previously resisted by blocking legislative inspections of its facilities.
While the Colombian Foreign Ministry reports that nearly 1,500 citizens have requested consular assistance from within detention centers, the true number of detainees remains unclear. The embassy currently estimates that 2,600 Colombians are in custody, a figure the congresswoman believes is a significant underestimate based on the reports received by her office.
Despite the urgency expressed by Ramírez Boscán, the proposal for a state of emergency faces stiff political opposition in Colombia. Conservative factions in the Colombian Congress have previously rejected such declarations, and the lawmaker acknowledged the difficulty of making the detained diaspora’s plight a national priority as she prepares for the upcoming legislative elections on March 8.