Mexico rejects landing request for US military flight deporting migrants
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The US military would provide flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY – Mexico has refused a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to allow a US military aircraft deporting migrants
The US military carried out two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Jan 24.
A total of 265 Guatemalans arrived on three flights – two operated by the military, and one a charter, the Central American country’s migration institute said.
The US government was not able to move ahead with a plan to have a C-17 transport aircraft land in Mexico, however, after the latter denied permission.
A US official and a Mexican official confirmed the decision, which was first reported by NBC News.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry, on Jan 24, said the country had a “very great relationship” with the US and cooperated on issues such as immigration.
“When it comes to repatriations, we will always accept the arrival of Mexicans to our territory with open arms,” it added.
The Mexican official did not say why landing permission was denied, while the Foreign Ministry did not mention the incident.
Mr Trump’s administration also announced it is relaunching a programme known as Remain in Mexico. That forces non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their cases in the US are resolved.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Jan 22 such a move would require the country receiving the asylum seekers to agree, and that Mexico had not done so.
US-Mexico relations have come into sharp focus since Mr Trump started his second term on Jan 20 with the declaration of a national emergency along their shared border. He has ordered 1,500 additional US troops there so far, and officials have said thousands more could be deployed soon.
He has declared Mexican drug cartels terrorist organisations, renamed the Gulf of Mexico
Ms Sheinbaum has sought to avoid escalating the situation and even expressed openness towards accommodating Mexican nationals who are returned.
But the leftist leader has said she does not agree with mass deportations and that Mexican immigrants are vital to the US economy.
The use of US military aircraft for deportation is part of the Pentagon’s response to Mr Trump’s national emergency declaration on Jan 20.
In the past, US military aircraft were used to relocate individuals from one country to another, like during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
This was the first time in recent memory that US military aircraft had been used to fly migrants out of the US, one US official said.
The flights came as the White House said the US arrested more than 1,000 people in two days with hundreds deported by military aircraft. It added that “the largest massive deportation operation in history is well under way”.
It also said 538 illegal immigrant “criminals” were arrested on Jan 23, followed by another 593 on Jan 24.
The Pentagon has said the US military would provide flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by the authorities in El Paso, Texas and San Diego, California. AFP, REUTERS
