Washington’s most senior representative to the South American country, Gabriel Escobar, was called in after Brazil expressed outrage over migrants arriving by plane in handcuffs.

The spat comes as Latin America grapples with US President Donald Trump’s return to power bringing a hard-line anti-immigration agenda, promising crackdowns on irregular migration and mass deportations.

Brazil’s government on Saturday slammed a “flagrant disregard” for the rights of dozens of migrants expelled from the US, with some claiming they were denied water and bathroom visits during their return flight.

Footage on Brazilian television showed some passengers descending from the civilian aircraft with their hands cuffed and their ankles shackled.

A government source told AFP the deportation flight was not directly linked to any immigration orders issued by Trump upon taking office last Monday, but rather stemmed from a 2017 bilateral agreement.

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the US, according to the Department of Homeland Security statistics.