US halts use of military planes to deport illegal immigrants: Report

The Trump administration has put a halt to the use of military aircraft to fly illegal immigrants to various countries and to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba due to the high costs incurred during these missions.

No military flights for deportation have taken place since March 1, media reports quoted unnamed US defence officials as saying. A flight set for March 6 has been cancelled.

Also read: Costliest deportation: Mixed reactions to return of 104 Indians from US

A permanent pause

“The pause on such flights could be extended or made permanent,” an official said.

Since Donald Trump became the president of the US for a second term, his administration wanted the military flights to send out a message about their intent to get tough on illegal immigrants in the country.

The deportation issue was traditionally handled by the department of homeland security to transfer migrants to the US military facilities at Guantanamo Bay and to other countries.

Also read: Trump defends mass deportations, vows to 'drain the swamp'

Costly, inefficient

But the Wall Street Journal reported that the use of military aircraft has turned out to be both expensive and inefficient.

The US has so far conducted around 30 migrant flights using C-17 aircraft and about a dozen on C-130. Destinations included India, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama and Guantanamo Bay.

While three flights carrying illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar in India, some countries have refused to receive US military planes.

Also read: Costa Rica offers to 'serve as a bridge' for Indians deported by US

Long routes

But the military flights have taken longer routes and transported fewer migrants at higher cost than the government’s typical deportation flights on civilian aircraft, the Journal reported.

Three deportation flights to India cost $3 million each. Some flights carried a dozen people to Guantanamo at a cost of at least $20,000 per migrant, the Journal’s analysis showed.

A standard US Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight costs $8,500 per flight hour.

Avoiding Mexican airspace

It costs $28,500 per hour to fly a C-17, which is designed to ferry heavy cargo as well as troops.

Adding to the costs, the C-17s haven’t used Mexico’s airspace, adding several hours to the flights destined for Central and South America.

Mexico and some other countries in the region have not allowed American military flights to land and have instead sent their aircraft or arranged for deportees to travel on commercial flights.

Colombia, Venezuela

Colombian President Gustavo Petro in January denied entry to two C-17 flights, prompting Trump to threaten tariffs.

Later, the White House said Colombia had agreed to the “unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens” including on US military aircraft. But no C-17s have landed in the country. Instead, Colombia sent its own aircraft to transport deported Colombians.