Venezuela's government has agreed to resume flights of deported migrants who unlawfully entered the United States, a senior U.S. diplomat announced in a post on X on Thursday, after an apparent pause in the repatriation flights that kicked off last month.

The US on Friday will resume deportation flights to Venezuela that its government had halted after President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke Chevron Corp.’s license to operate in the country, an American official said.

While portrayed by the Trump administration as hardened criminals, the Venezuelans deported from the United States were welcomed back with open arms as prodigal sons and daughters — ironically, by the man in charge of the repressive apparatus that initially forced many of them to flee.