4/27/20

By Tom Cartwright

DEATH FLIGHTS – 24 APRIL 2020

ICE Air is starting to get a lot more Media and Congressional attention now. We have had a number of inquiries. Keep sharing!

12 FLIGHTS 25 Ap – 27 April

ICE Air rarely flies on the weekend, but sometimes there are plane repositioning, returns and occasionally detainee flights. That was the case Saturday – Monday this week. Monday was actually a light day for flights. Because ICE discloses nothing about these flights, we are left to our own hypotheses. Perhaps Friday was such a large day they took a day of rest. Perhaps they are facing some pressure to suspend flights until they start testing. Or, maybe they are just positioning for a big day to come. We will witness.

Ø It is clear that the seeding and spreading of COVID in detention centers and through these flights is accelerating, and will continue to do so.

Ø Devastatingly, it is estimated that 72% of detainees in centers will be infected at the 90-day mark. This report was published by the Government Accountability Project and relied on experts from Brown University, Brandeis, British Columbia Children’s Hospital, George Mason and University of British Columbia.

Ø ICE reported detainees testing positive was up to 360 from 297 on Friday. They have not disclosed the number tested since 21 April when it was 425. Curiously, they only report 35 staff testing positive and that number has barely moved over the last week. It does not include 3rdparty contractors, but it seems quite odd that it is so stable. I question that number.

Ø Today we communicated with the Guatemala Government Office of Migration and confirmed that the flight suspension is still in place because of our exportation of COVID there. From March 19 we have deported 1,455 migrants to Guatemala and 84 have been positive for COVID. That is 6% of everyone we deported during that time. Neither of those numbers include those expelled as a result of the CDC order primarily into Mexico.

Ø Mexico border States , as we mentioned in our reporting last week, are becoming very concerned about the people we are deporting and expelling by land. Over 11,000 have been expelled under the CDC order most probably by land. So, they are beginning to take some questionable, dehumanizing and dangerous actions to reduce their risk to our exportation of COVID.

- It has been reported that the Governor of the State of Tampaulipas is installing 38 “sanitation tunnels.” These plastic tunnels spray people with disinfectant. Yes, spray with disinfectant. To be fair, he wants to use these not just with migrants.

Ø And the pain does not stop when someone is deported. Jeff Abbott reported on a man returned to Guatemala who tested positive and who was threatened with being burned in his own village after returning.

Here is a summary of the 12 flights.

- BRAZIL to SAN JUAN (re-fuel on return flights from Friday, we think) (SAT)

- SAN JUAN to PHOENIX (SAT)

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to PHOENIX (SUN)

- PHOENIX to ALEXANDRIA (LA) (SUN)

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to MIAMI (SUN)

- GREENBORO to SAN ANTONIO (SUN)

- MIAMI to HOUSTON (M)

- HOUSTON to HONDURAS (M)

- HONDURAS to MIAMI (M)

- ALEXANDRIA to HARRISBURG (M)

- HARRISBURG to BROWNSVILLE (M)

- BROWNSVILLE to ALEXANDRIA (M)

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.