Deportation American Style

The Trump administration’s deportation flights are getting attention. Those on military aircraft come at high taxpayer expense — at least one flight, from El Paso, Texas, to Guatemala, “likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant,” reports Phil Stewart of Reuters. A publicly available first-class ticket was $853 at time.

At least seven military flights using C-17 cargo planes have left El Paso and Tucson, Arizona, since President Donald Trump took office, reports Jeff Abbott of the El Paso Times.  People chained by the waist, hands and feet for the duration of a Guatemala-bound flight said they were not violent criminals and had not been in the U.S. for long, Abbott reports. 

After a deportation flight to Brazil that was riddled with mechanical problems, officials in that country criticized the Trump administration’s treatment of 88 deportees who were handcuffed and shackled, reports Jack Nicas of The New York Times. 

KJ