US Air Force

The US border patrol reported that a flight with deported to Guatemala lasted almost double what would take a direct route, because the military aircraft was prohibited from flying over Mexico's airspace.

A United States Air Force aircraft that transported migrants departed on Thursday from Texas towards Guatemala with at least 80 deported, in a new example of the growing role of the Armed Forces in the application of migratory restrictions.

The flight that departed from Fort Bliss, an army base in the pass The border patrol spokesman Orlando Marrero. On board the plane there were at least eight minors.

“The message we have for those people is that if you cross the border illegally, we will deport them to their country of origin in a matter of hours,” said Marrero.

The Trump government has used military airplanes to deport people to Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia, unlike the previous practices of the United States Imigration and Customs Control Office (ICE for its initials in English) to use charter and chart flights commercial

“There are some countries that do not like military planes to enter their territory,” said Federal Representative, Henry Cuellar, who represents a Texas border district. “It's something that logistically has to remember with the country in advance, because you don't want an plane to have to turn around.”

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, rejected two United States military planes on Sunday with migrants on board, which led Trump to announce 25 % tariffs on Colombian exports. The South American nation He changed his position and reported that he would accept migrantsbut that would be transferred in Colombian military aircraft that, according to Petro, would guarantee their dignity.

The Pentagon began to deploy active elements on the border last week, but for the moment it is not clear to what extent they will deviate from their support papers that have played under presidents from George W. Bush, including land and aerial surveillance, the Construction of border wall sections and vehicle repair.

A law of 1878 prohibits military participation in the application of civil law, but Trump and his advisors have indicated that the president could invoke powers of war. In an executive order issued on the day of your inauguration in which declared an emergency at the borderThe president said the Department of Defense could help with the detention and transfer of migrants, two high -cost aspects.

Trump ordered Thursday to use a United States base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to stop migrants, ensuring that up to 30,000 people could house. This measure would virtually duplicate the current ICE detention capacity.

Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe in Refugees International, said that using military airplanes for deportations was rare but “largely symbolic.”