5/29/20

By Tom Cartwright

DEATH FLIGHTS – 29 May 2020

PANDEMIC DEEPENS AROUND THE WORLD AND ICE AIR DEEPENS THE EXPORTATION OF COVID THIS WEEK – 21 FLIGHTS TODAY, AND 90 FOR THE WEEK.

TODAY WAS ANOTHER EXTREMELY BUSY DAY EXPORTING COVID WITH 7 DEPORTATIONS (1 late last night) .

- Interestingly, the flight numbers by category were almost the same as last Friday, with 1 less shuffle flight and 1 less deportation return.

- And, this week looks a lot like last week as we will describe below.

21 flights today – 7 Deportations – Mexico (2), Honduras , Guatemala , El Salvador , Brazil(2) .

6 US Deportation Connections. 5 Deportation returns. 3 Shuffle flights in US.

WEEKLY SUMMARY

- 90 Flights, 4 less than last week – second most in last 5 weeks. Highest was last week was 94

- 17 Deportations – tied for most in last 5 weeks and same as last week. Next highest was 13. Honduras (5), Mexico (4), El Salvador (1), Guatemala (1), Jamaica (1), Nicaragua (1), Columbia (1).

- Brazil (2) Haiti (1).

- 14 Deportation US Connections, same as last week

- 16 Deportation Returns, 2 less than last week

- 47 Shuffle flights in the US , 2 less than last week –. Next highest was 40.

 As we were expecting we saw 4 deportation flights of expelled Mexican nationals to Mexico City to relieve pressure on Mexican border towns. All of us have seen the tragic position Mexico City is in with COVID, yet ICE sent 8 planes of deportees there over last 2 weeks. Originally ICE said they would send flights there through the 29th (today). My guess is this will continue. We will witness.

 Today there was a flight to Guatemala, the only one this week. On the 15th, Guatemala put a hold on flights again because we sent more deportees (3) back with COVID. They have made no official announcement of resuming flights so we are not sure if this was an exception “humanitarian” flight but the profile matches that more than a regular flight. The flight before this was an exception and it was for 20 unaccompanied minors. Today, according to Jeff Abbott, there were only 10 people on the flights and 5 were unaccompanied children. Yes, “humanitarian” means sending children back to danger. We will continue to witness and report.

 That brings us to testing. All Guatemalan deportees were required by Guatemala to be tested. Apparently, ICE missed the information about the inaccuracy of the Abbott rapid test because that is what HHS gave them to use. Today the Miami Herald reported on this.

 1,406 detainees have tested positive for COVID, up 14 today. 2,781 have been tested, up 111 today. 51% 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.

- PHOENIX to EL PASO – 1

- EL PASO to ALEXANDRIA (LA) - 1

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to SAN JUAN – 1

- SAN JUAN to BRAZIL -1

- BRAZIL to BRAZIL – 1

- BROWNSVILLE to MEXICO CITY -2

- MEXICO CITY to BROWNSVILLE – 2

- SAN ANTONIO to ALEXANDRIA (LA) -3

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to HONDURAS – 3

- HONDURAS to SAN ANTONIO - 3

- SAN ANTONIO to GUATEMALA – 4

- GUATEMALA to SAN ANTONIO – 4

- PHOENIX to SAN DIEGO -5

- SAN DIEGO to MEXICO CITY – 5

- MEXICO CITY to PHOENIX – 5

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to PHOENIX – 6

- PHOENIX to EL SALVADOR – 6

- EL SALVADOR to ALEXANDRIA (LA) – 6

- BROWNSVILLE to GARY – 7

- GARY to ALEXANDRIA (LA) – 7

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) to BROWNSVILLE - 7

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.