Venezuela claims 66 Venezuelan children held in US

The Venezuelan government on Tuesday (August 19) has claimed that 66 Venezuelan children are being illegally held in the United States after being separated from their parents during deportation proceedings, reports AFP.

Camila Fabri, president of Venezuela’s Return to the Homeland programme, described the situation as a "cruel and inhumane policy" that continues to worsen.

Caracas is demanding their immediate return to Venezuelan authorities for repatriation.

More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014, driven by violence, inflation, crime, and shortages of food and medicine, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

To date, 21 Venezuelan children have been returned from the US, including the daughter of one of 252 Venezuelans detained during the immigration sweep in March. The detained individuals were later released in a prisoner swap after reports of abuse in detention.

Fabri said that 10,631 Venezuelans have returned to the country in 2025, including deportees from the US and those stranded in Mexico.

The US Department of Homeland Security has not commented on Venezuela’s claims. Meanwhile, tensions between the two governments remain high, with the US imposing a $50 million bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over federal drug trafficking charges.