An Air Force jet with migrants bound at their wrists and ankles departed Texas for Guatemala on Thursday, carrying 80 deportees in another deportation flight that reflects a growing role for the armed forces in helping enforce immigration laws. The flight from Fort Bliss, an Army base in El Paso, was scheduled to take about seven hours, nearly twice as long as a direct route, because the military plane could not fly over Mexico, said a US Border Patrol spokesman. "The message that we have for those people is that if you cross the border illegally, we are going to deport you to your country of origin in a matter of hours," Orlando Marrero said. Eight children were aboard, the AP reports.
The Trump administration has used military aircraft to deport people to Guatemala, Ecuador, and Colombia, a departure from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's previous practice to employ charter and commercial planes. "There are some countries that don't like military planes coming into their territory," said US Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents a Texas border district, per the AP. "It's something that logistically has to be worked out with the country before, because you don't want to have a plane turned around in midair."
On Sunday, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro refused two US military planes with migrants, prompting President Trump to announce 25% tariffs on Colombian exports. Colombia backed off and said it would accept the migrants but fly them on Colombian military flights that Petro said would guarantee them dignity. An 1878 law prohibits military involvement in civilian law enforcement, but Trump and his aides have signaled the president may invoke wartime powers. Trump said in his Inauguration Day order declaring a border emergency that the Defense Department may assist with detention and transportation. Yael Schacher of Refugees International said using military aircraft for deportations was uncommon but "largely symbolic."
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