Since January 24, there have been 10 military deportation flights, with five landing in Guatemala by February 4. Approximately 727 individuals were deported on these flights originating from El Paso, Harlingen, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. Migrants who had illegally crossed the U.S. border were returned to countries such as Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru, and India. These five nations agreed to accept the military deportation flights following threats from Trump of economic consequences if they refused.
In a historic move, Trump announced from his Doral golf club on January 27 that illegal aliens were being identified, loaded onto military aircraft, and flown back to their countries of origin. The Department of Defense did not immediately provide further information regarding these military deportation flights.
Deportation charters facilitated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, commonly known as ICE Air, have been a longstanding practice. These chartered flights, using commercial airlines, transport immigrants to various hubs along the U.S. border region before flying them back to countries like Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, and Colombia.
During the Trump administration, around 30 commercial deportation charters were recorded post-January 24. Meanwhile, the Biden administration conducted 5,518 deportation flights over four years, with 1,564 flights in the final year. ICE removed 271,484 non-citizens in fiscal year 2024, marking a significant increase compared to the previous year.
CSI Aviation, holding a federal contract for repatriating migrants, plays a key role in facilitating these chartered flights. Miami-based Global Crossings Airlines, or GlobalX, has become a major subcontractor for CSI Aviation, utilizing Airbus planes for deportation operations. Other charter and cargo companies like Eastern Air Express and World Atlantic Airlines occasionally conduct ICE chartered deportations.
For families of Juárez fire victims, payments have been received but justice remains pending.
The tracking of ICE deportations has been complicated by the use of military aircraft. Since 2018, the University of Washington’s Human Rights Center has been studying ICE Air removal flights, gathering information on the contracts and companies involved. However, obtaining details about the deportation charters has become increasingly challenging in recent years.
Phil Neff, a research coordinator at the University of Washington’s Human Rights Center, emphasized the importance of having access to comprehensive data regarding the number of passengers and their destinations. Neff noted that such information was previously provided through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request but is now more difficult to obtain.
For more insights on border issues, Jeff Abbott covers the topic for the El Paso Times and can be contacted at jdabbott@gannett.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter, or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article was originally published in the El Paso Times and highlights the higher costs associated with Trump’s military deportation flights compared to chartered flights.
