5/20/20
By Tom Cartwright
DEATH FLIGHTS – 20 May 2020
16 flights today – 3 Deportations - 2 Honduras, 1 Nicaragua. 2 Deportation connections. 3 deportation returns. AND 8 shuffle flights).
Ø Yesterday we reported on 2 deportation flights to Mexico City. The first we have seen. Deportation flights to Mexico stopped with the CDC Order March 21. And before, they went to Guadalajara under the Mexico Repatriation Agreement. Since that time, and even then, most deportations to Mexico were by land, not air. We suspected that they might be resuming deportation flights to the interior to relieve the pressure of expulsions on the border. It appears from answers by CBP to inquiries and Mexico AP story that this is true. And the reporting is that there will be 8 flights, 4 from San Diego and 4 from Brownsville through May 29. I think now that the CDC order has been renewed that these will continue past that time. CBP response to inquiry is the photo in this post.
- This speaks to just how bad conditions are in Mexico border times as a result of the expulsions of 20,000 migrants in 1 ½ months. It does not seem like the US cares so it seems as though Mexico Gov’t is feeling some pressure from the Mexican border States who are bearing the brunt of these inflows in a pandemic and who have been pushing for changes.
Ø Evidence of the danger of shuttling detainees around showed up again in the reporting of in the Miami Herald which reported on a spike in COVID at Broward in Florida after a dozen detainees were transferred there from Krome in Florida. Soon after the transfer 16 detainees tested positive. This has been going on for months now and there is no sign of stopping.
Ø The detainee population dropped about 1,250 this past week and now stands at 26,660. It is down about 10,000 from beginning of April. The fall is the result NOT of releases, but of deportations and the expulsions (20,000 since March 21) at the border as evidenced by book ins. Book ins are going to be about 8,000 this month, just a bit lower than April, but down from the 1q run rate of 22,000.
Ø 1,163 detainees have tested positive for COVID, up 18. 2,328 have been tested, up 134 today. 50% of those tested have been positive for COVID.
Here are the flights for today. The number behind the leg indicates a single individual planes path.
- BROWNSVILLE to ALEXANDRIA (LA) – 1
- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to NICARAGUA – 1
- NICARAGUA to BROWNSVILLE – 1
- SAN ANTONIO to BROWNSVILLE - 2
- BROWNSVILLE to HONDURAS – 2
- HONDURAS to SAN ANTONIO – 2
- PHOENIX to HONDURAS – 3
- HONDURAS to PHOENIX – 3
- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to MINNEAPOLIS - 4
- MINNEAPOLIS to OMAHA – 4
- OMAHA to KANSAS CITY – 4
- KANSAS CITY to BROWNSVILLE - 4
- BROWNSVILLE to ALEXANDRIA (LA) – 4
- PHOENIX to SAN DIEGO – 5
- SAN DIEGO to PHOENIX – 5
- PHOENIX to SAN DIEGO - 5
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.