A U.S. Air Force jet with 80 migrants that left Texas for Guatemala on Thursday charted a path around Mexico because it couldn't fly over the country, according to a U.S. official. The Mexican government said it never denied permission.
The deportation flight was blocked from leaving the US after two Air Force C-17 flights, each carrying about 80 deportees to Guatemala, successfully took off Thursday night.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said early Friday morning deportation flights had begun, marking the first deportation flights using military aircraft since President Dwight Eisenhower was in office, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official.
The Trump administration's use of U.S. military aircraft to return deportees has raised alarms throughout Latin America.
Francisco Fortín was attacked by gangs wielding machetes in his home country of Honduras, he said, an act of violence that cemented a decision to quit his impoverished and trouble-plagued homeland.
Trump has made it a priority to deter migrants from entering the U.S. illegally and many of the aid programs he halted are funded through the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which provides humanitarian assistance to those fleeing persecution, crisis, or violence.
Mexico reportedly denied access to land for a U.S. military plane that was slated to return deportees to the country, according to reports.
Mexico has received non-Mexican migrants from the United States in the past week, and Central American nations could also reach similar agreements with the U.S. to accept deportees from other countries,
Mexico refused to allow a US military plane with migrants on board to land on its territory. This was reported by NBC with reference to two representatives of the US Department of Defense and a source familiar with the situation.
A US Air Force jet carrying 80 deportees from Texas to Guatemala avoided Mexican airspace, highlighting military's increasing role in immigration enforcement.
Tensions escalate as Mexico denies landing clearance for a U.S. military plane carrying deported migrants, disrupting a key piece of Trump’s immigration str
The president authorized the military to assist in deportations. The planes triggered a crisis between the United States and Colombia, and prompted questions. Here’s what to know.