The White House confirmed that migrant deportation flights have begun.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X, “Deportation flights have begun.”
“President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences,” she said.
Prior to announcing the flights, Leavitt noted that 538 illegal immigrants were arrested. Other migrants were deported “via military aircraft,” she said.
American Faith reported ICE operations prioritized child predators, with arrests spanning multiple cities. In Buffalo, New York, ICE arrested Ecuadorian national Luis Alberto Espinoza-Boconsaca, convicted of rape, and Dominican national Pedro Julio Mejia, convicted of sexual conduct against a child.
According to the Air and Space Forces Magazine, the Pentagon “plans to use U.S. Air Force C-17s and C-130s to deport 5,400 people” currently detained by ICE.
Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said that 1,500 Active-Duty troops are going to the southern border to “complete operational control of the southern border of the United States.”
Upon his inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that declared a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“America’s sovereignty is under attack. Our southern border is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans, including America,” the order said, noting the “assault on the American people and the integrity of America’s sovereign borders represents a grave threat to our Nation.”
“To protect the security and safety of United States citizens, to protect each of the States against invasion, and to uphold my duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, it is my responsibility as President to ensure that the illegal entry of aliens into the United States via the southern border be immediately and entirely stopped,” the order declared.
