Editorials & Other Articles

Dulcinea

(10,532 posts) Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:42 AM Jun 30

Venezuelans deported from the U.S. were killed hours later in powerful quakes

(NPR) The last time Georgelyss Montes saw her best friend Angelo Mejía Meléndez was four years ago, at a goodbye party before he left for the U.S.

"We were like, 'you are stupid for leaving us!" she joked.

Last week she got word he was coming home, unexpectedly, as a deportee. Mejía Meléndez was one of 146 Venezuelan nationals who landed in Caracas after being deported from the U.S. on Wednesday.

Passengers on that plane, which included women and children, were being processed in a guarded hotel in La Guaira, when powerful twin earthquakes struck, according to family members. The building they were in pancaked.

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/30/nx-s1-5875287/venezuela-deportees-us-quakes

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Highlight:

Venezuelans deported from the U.S. were killed hours later in powerful quakes (Original Post) Dulcinea Jun 30 OP

More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the earthquakes are missing underpants Jun 30 #1

I'm not sure that I could survive the level of pain and indignity that they have been suffering. littlemissmartypants Jun 30 #2

Unfortunate................... Lovie777 Jun 30 #3

So sad malaise Jun 30 #4

underpants

(198,000 posts)

1. More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the earthquakes are missing

Reply to Dulcinea (Original post)

Tue Jun 30, 2026, 06:48 AM

Jun 30

MIAMI (AP) — More than 100 people just deported from the United States were being held in a hotel when earthquakes struck Venezuela, setting off a scramble to find survivors and bodies buried in the rubble, according to survivors.

A deportation flight from Miami arrived in Venezuela hours before Wednesday’s earthquakes. On board were 146 Venezuelans, including 19 women and seven children, according to ICE Flight Monitor, an initiative of Human Rights First, which tracks deportation flights. They were transported to a hotel in La Guaira.

https://apnews.com/article/earthquake-venezuela-us-deportees-immigration-hotel-survived-783140c04b418de2308f548402ace9af