Donald Trump sent the first deportees of his Government on military planes to Guatemala and El Salvador
The administration of donald trump began sending deportees on American military planes back to Guatemala and El Salvadoras he seeks to demonstrate that he is acting on his campaign promises. return millions of migrants to their countries of origin.
The White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavittconfirmed the start of military flights in a post on X that included a photo of chained men boarding a cargo plane, without saying their destination. The Pentagon first announced it planned to use Air Force planes for the flights earlier this week.
The people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, told the news agency Bloomberg that the military flights were headed to Guatemala and El Salvador, two countries that have been a source of many migrants. They said the flights were in addition to regular flights conducted by the Department of Homeland Security.
The trips took off from the Biggs military air base in El Paso (Texas) and carried around 80 people each, the US newspaper said. The Washington Examiner.
“Deportation flights have begun“Leavitt wrote in a post on X. “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to everyone: if you enter the United States of America illegally, you will face serious consequences“added the official.
US immigration authorities have carried out hundreds of flights of this type a year for several years, but not with military aircraft.
The administration’s move drew immediate criticism from people who monitor migrant flights. Thomas Cartwright, a refugee advocate for Witness at the Border, called the images posted by Leavitt “theatre of the absurd,” given that military cargo planes carry fewer people than the regular charter flights that DHS has used for several years. Cartwright said the US had already been sending an average of 10 deportation flights per week to Guatemala.
“The only new thing about this is subjecting people to transporting them on a cargo plane instead of a charter one and to a LOWER number of people per plane”Cartwright wrote in X.
The deportations are part of a broader operation to detain immigrants across the country. In New Jersey, the mayor of Newark and a Democratic congresswoman criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allegedly raiding a business to detain undocumented residents without showing a warrant.
President Donald Trump promised to focus on some 11 million people who are in the country illegally. He ordered a new deployment of military troops to the border to help block the illegal crossing of migrants. The Defense Department said at least four military aircraft will also be used to help carry out the deportations of about 5,000 detained migrants from El Paso and San Diego.
During a visit to North Carolina on Friday, Trump said the flights “were going very well.” “We are taking out the bad criminals”said.
Guatemala already receives more than a dozen deportation flights a week and stressed its willingness to receive its citizens when the vice president went earlier this week to greet a flight of deportees when it landed.
Trump promised during last year’s campaign to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the US, saying they have contributed to crime and the nation faces a crisis on its southern border.
Guatemala and El Salvador were some of the top destinations for deportees over the past decade, according to Department of Homeland Security data compiled by the Migration Policy Institute.
(With information from Bloomberg)
