12/13/20
By Thomas Cartwright
DEATH FLIGHTS - WEEK OF 7 December – please share for transparency
Ø 6 WEEKS WITH NO FLIGHTS TO HONDURAS BECAUSE OF HURRICANES ETA AND IOTA. PRIOR WEEKS THERE WERE 4-5 PER WEEK.
Ø DEPORTATIONS TO GUATEMALA NOW ABOUT HALF OF WHAT THEY WERE LAST MONTH.
Ø ARE MORE PEOPLE BEING EXPELLED BY LAND TO MEXICO? OR WILL WE SEE ENCOUNTERS LOWER IN NOVEMBER WHEN REPORTED?
Ø STILL, 17 DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO 6 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.
Ø 86 TOTAL FLIGHTS, 5 BELOW THE LAST 6-MONTH AVERAGE
WEEKLY SUMMARY
- 86 Total Flights. Down 10 from last week, and 8 below the last 6-week average.
- 17 Deportations – Down 3 from last week, and 5 below prior 6-week average. 6th week of no flights to Honduras because of Hurricanes Eta and Iota when there were usually 4-5 per week. To 6 different countries in Latin America.
- Honduras (0), No flights to Honduras because of Eta and Iota For the 6rd week in a row resulting in the suspension of 25-30 flights based on patterns. The last flights (4) were Friday, 30 October before Eta hit Honduras on the following Wednesday. The airport was flooded also by Iota and it is not estimated to open until mid-to late December. It is unknown if ICE Air will try to fly to an alternative location in Honduras. The suspension may be more because the airport is flooded and less because ICE cares about humanitarian concerns. See Guatemala below. The President of Honduras was in the US this week for 4 days and the Foreign Minister asked officially for the US to provide TPS (temporary protected status) for Hondurans here.
- In the 4 weeks of October, 900 people were returned by the US to Honduras. None have been returned over the last 6 weeks. We do not know if they have been expelled to MX by land, or are being held. And we don’t yet know if encounters are lower (CBP should report in next 10 days).
- Haiti (1), Continues in a every other week pattern.
- Guatemala (2), down1 from last week and 3 below a typical week the prior month and running at half of that. We do not know the reason for the slow down. However, over a week ago and before Iota, the President of Guatemala asked the US to suspend deportations and offer Guatemalans in the US Temporary Protected Status for humanitarian reasons because of Eta. But ICE responded with 3 the week following the request and 5 the next week. There have been large protests demanding President Giammattei’s resignation, primarily related to the budget recently passed, but it does not seem likely that is the reason.
- We do not know if more people are being expelled by land to MX, or if encounters for November, when reported by CBP, will be lower.
Ø For years after Mitch there was a significant migration North and many believe it is highly likely that we will start to see this soon.People have not only lost hope, but all their belongings and their source of their livelihood. Climate migration will be a powerful future force and it is here now. There was a small caravan that left Honduras this week, but disbanded after Honduran authorities required proof of a negative COVID terst.
Ø Moreover, even if air fields are open for flights the social safety nets in these countries are well beyond their maximum and the US in good conscience should suspend all deportations to Central America. But, we doubt ICE will do that. They already ignored that request from the President of Guatemala (above). Representative Velasquez offered legislation to provide TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for citizens of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua so they would not be returned in the midst of this crisis. We suspect ICE will not care.
- Mexico (9), Same as last week and typical of almost every week over the last three months. August was 7 per week and August and September stepped up to 9. Flights to 6 different cities this week, and similar to every week: Mexico City (2), Guadalajara (2), Puebla (1), Morelia (1), Villahermosa (1), and Queretaro (2).
- El Salvador (3), Same as last week 1 above historic pattern. However, 2 flights were coupled with flights to Ecuador.
- Ecuador (2), Up 1 from last week and fairly consistent with 1 to 2 per week. The flights were coupled with El Salvador flights.
- 16 Deportation Connects, up 1 from last week and 3 above the last 6-week average and consistent with deportations.
- 15 Deportation Returns, down 3 from last week, and 4 below the prior 6-week average and consistent level of deportations.
- 38 Shuffle flights in the US, down 5 from last week, and 2 below the last 6-week average.
Ø NOTEWORTHY THIS WEEK
Ø The Detainee population increased 332 this week, a reasonable typical change. The population of 16,377 is under half of what it was at the end of February. The average decrease over the last 4 weeks has been 188.
Ø Through October, 265,000 asylum seekers have been turned back and expelled under the illegal CDC order (title 42) since mid-March, 59,700 alone in September, or 90% of all encounters. Almost 13,000 unaccompanied children have been expelled into danger alone since mid-March according to the ACLU press release describing the Court order that now prohibits unaccompanied children from being expelled under Title 42.
- It has been reported by CBP that the few that may not qualify to be expelled, some not from Mexico or Northern Triangle Countries, are still being enrolled in MPP. We understand around 1,000 in September.
Ø 7,888 detainees have tested positive for COVID, up this week by 266 or .4%. Testing increased last week by 2,425 to 70,085on a cumulative basis, so the positivity rate was around 11%. The average number tested over the last 4 weeks has been very consistent at 2,613. There are 490 detainees in isolation of under monitoring, up 133 last week.
Note: ICE Air does not disclose their flights. Flight listing gleaned from public flight information, knowledge of detention center locations, air charter services and historic patterns. In rare cases, there may be a flight we miss, or include in error.