Why is Trump using expensive military aircraft to deport illegal immigrants? Explained

Why is Trump using expensive military aircraft to deport illegal immigrants? Explained

A US military aircraft carrying around 200 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, as per a PTI news report. The deported immigrants will be received by the Punjab authorities, the report added.

The C-17 aircraft carrying 205 Indian nationals departed from San Antonio, Texas, around 3 am IST on February 4.

One of the two planks on which President Donald Trump was voted to power was cracking down on illegal immigrants. He has threatened tariffs and penalties if any country resists deportation of illegal immigrants.

Recently, Colombian President Gustavo Petro turned back the US military planes carrying deportees, saying he would only accept civilian planes. But after Trump threatened him with penalties, Petro accepted Colombian illegal immigrants in military jets.

The crisis has brought attention to Trump government’s deportation efforts and has raised questions about the military planes deporting hundreds of migrants. Let us understand why military planes are being used to carrying out deportation, how much does one flight cost.

Why is Trump administration using military deportation planes?

Trump had signed an executive order on January 20 when he took office authorising US military to assist in securing the border.

The acting secretary of defense at the time, Robert Salesses, had said in a statement that the Department of Defense would “provide military airlift” to support the Department of Homeland Security in the deportation of more than 5,000 “illegal aliens”.

Salesses had said, as mentioned in a New York Times report, that these people were being held by US Customs and Border Protection at the southern border. He noted that the flights would take place after the State Department obtained “the requisite diplomatic clearances” and informed each country.

However, the administration is also using military planes symbolically in messaging around its efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted images of a C-17 Air Force plane carrying migrants, with a caption, “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”

How many military planes have been used for deportation?

Only six military flights have been used as of the end of Trump’s second week in office to deport illegal immigrants, according to The New York Times report. The Trump administration is also using non-military aircraft to send off deportees.

During the same period, dozens of non-military flights carrying deportees to countries around the US such as Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Honduras also took off.

However, commercial charters, which are operated by US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), have not been used much compared with the military C-17 planes for deportation.

During both Biden and Trump’s terms, the US had deported more than a million people, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington.

What’s the cost of one military flight?

According to a Reuters report, a recent military deportation flight to Guatemala “likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant…That is more than five times the $853 cost of a one-way first-class ticket on American Airlines” on the same route.

It is also significantly higher than the cost of a commercial charter flight by ICE, it added.

About ICE flights, Reuters said, “…acting ICE Director Tae Johnson told lawmakers during an April 2023 budget hearing that deportation flights cost $17,000 per flight hour for 135 deportees and typically lasted five hours.” This would “translate to a cost of $630 per person, assuming the charter company, and not ICE, pays the cost of the return flight.”

A US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the estimated the cost to operate a C-17 military transport aircraft is $28,500 per hour. The flight back and forth to Guatemala, not including time on the ground or any operations to prepare the flight for takeoff, took about 10-1/2 hours in the air to complete, the official said.

ICE says it transports detainees on chartered Boeing 737 or McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft.

How are countries reacting to the deportation flights?

The use of military aircraft to send off deportees reminds of the time when the US carried out covert military operations in Latin American to contain revolutionary movements in the name of defeating Communism.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has said: “They can act within their borders. When it comes to Mexico, we defend our sovereignty and seek out dialogue so as to coordinate.”

Leaders of Latin America are also concerned about how the deportees are being treated in the flights. They have also objected to the images being released of migrants in handcuffs and chains and to the way that Trump has described them, particularly deportees, as murderers, gang members and drug kingpins.

Since Trump took office, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico have submitted complaints to the US related to the treatment of migrants on deportation flights, according to The New York Times report. It was not immediately clear if in Guatemala the complaint was related to a deportee or deportees on military flights.

Colombian deportees said they had been handcuffed, shackled and chained around the waist for the duration of a flight to Bogotá on a nonmilitary plane. It was not immediately clear if the government there made an official complaint.

What has India said about deportation military plane?

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on February 4 that the state government would receive the immigrants and set up counters at the airport.

Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the US government’s decision and said these individuals, who contributed to that country’s economy, should have been granted permanent residency instead of being deported.

He said many Indians entered the US on work permits which later expired, making them illegal immigrants.

The minister said he plans to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar next week to discuss the concerns and interests of Punjabis living in the US.

Dhaliwal had also appealed to Punjabis not to travel abroad through illegal means, stressing the importance of acquiring skills and education to access opportunities worldwide. He encouraged people to research legal ways, acquire education and language skills before travelling abroad.

With inputs from PTI

Ashleigh Gardner Appointed Gujarat Giants Skipper For Upcoming Women’s Premier League Previous post Ashleigh Gardner Appointed Gujarat Giants Skipper For Upcoming Women’s Premier League
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal Gives Update On “Pay Rs 20 Lakh” For Chief Of Staff Job Listing Next post Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal Gives Update On “Pay Rs 20 Lakh” For Chief Of Staff Job Listing

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *