US Halts Costly Military Deportation Flights

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump administration has suspended the use of military aircraft for deporting migrants due to high costs, with the last such flight taking place on March 1, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Military planes, including C-17 and C-130 aircraft, were used for deportations as part of the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Since January, around 30 flights have been conducted using C-17s, and about a dozen with C-130s, transporting migrants to destinations including India.

These flights were introduced as a symbolic gesture to reinforce the administration’s tough stance on illegal immigration. However, the WSJ report highlights that the flights were inefficient and costly compared to the usual deportation method, which relies on commercial flights by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The report states that three deportation flights to India alone cost around $3 million each. Flights to Guantanamo Bay, which carried only a dozen migrants per trip, amounted to at least $20,000 per person. The C-17, designed for heavy cargo and troop transport, incurs an operational cost of $28,500 per flight hour, significantly more than the $8,500 per hour cost of standard deportation flights conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Despite the suspension of military deportation flights, the administration’s broader immigration policies remain in effect.

New reports suggest that President Trump is “frustrated” with the slow pace of deportations. DHS is expected to continue deportations using commercial flights, which are more cost-effective and logistically viable.