The Venezuelan foreign ministry has advised its citizens not to travel to the US or to leave the latter if they are already living there.

“Venezuela warns all its citizens and advises them to refrain from traveling to the United States of America. Also, we call on Venezuelans living in the US to consider leaving the country,” Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil Pinto wrote on Telegram.

The FM noted that “in the US, Venezuelans are becoming victims of constant human rights violations, being detained without reason, separated from their families, and transferred to concentration camps in third countries, which is an unacceptable practice that recalls the worst times in modern history.”

“Venezuelan citizens in the United States are being subjected to xenophobia.” Pinto added.

The US State Department on Tuesday urged its citizens to avoid all travel to Venezuela, where there are no guarantees of their safety.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order—based on the 1798 Alien Enemies Act—which orders the immediate arrest, detention, and deportation of members of the Tren de Aragua—a transnational criminal group operating in Venezuela—from the US. Under that pretext, more than 250 Venezuelan citizens arrested in the US were transferred to El Salvador without a court order or the right to a defense, and jailed in a maximum-security prison.