WASHINGTON — Mexico denied a U.S. military plane a landing on the ground Thursday, at least thwarting the Trump administration’s plans to deport migrants to the country, according to U.S. defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation.
Two Guatemalan Air Force C-17s, carrying about 80 people each, flew deportees from the United States on Thursday night, sources said. The third flight, scheduled for Mexico, did not take off.
It was not immediately clear why Mexico blocked the flight, but tensions between the United States and Mexico, the longtime neighbors and allies, have risen since President Donald Trump won the November election. Trump has threatened to slap 25% across-the-board tariffs on Mexico in response to migrants crossing the border the countries share. But he has He didn’t put them in reality.
“The flights were an administrative issue and were quickly corrected,” a White House official said in a text message.
After this article was published, White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt Tweet“Yesterday, Mexico accepted a record 4 deportation flights in one day!”
However, a White House official did not clarify whether they were military, commercial or private flights.
The government of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said it opposes Trump Take “unilateral” action To implement restrictive immigration standards — including reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy that forces migrants to remain in that country while awaiting adjudication of asylum claims. Flying deportees in a foreign country requires the cooperation of that nation’s government.
In a statement, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry did not go into detail about why the US plane was not allowed to land in the country.
“Mexico has a very good relationship with the United States government, and we cooperate regarding our sovereignty on a wide range of issues, including immigration,” he said. “When it comes to repatriation, we will always welcome the arrival of Mexicans in our territory with open arms.” Mexico embraces you.”
On Friday, Guatemala received three flights from the United States with Guatemalan citizens who were sent back to their home country. A spokesperson for the Guatemalan Migration Institute told NBC News that two of Friday’s flights were on the military plane and the other was on a non-military plane. The total number of Guatemalans arriving in Guatemala City from the three flights was approximately 265.
The military deportation flights are part of a broader Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration laid out in proposed executive orders signed in his first week in office. During his campaign, he pledged to stop illegal immigration into the United States and pursue a campaign to mass deport undocumented immigrants already living in the country.
In addition to the flights, he recruited the army to strengthen its presence on the border with an additional 1,500 soldiers.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
