TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson is playing a major role in the mass deportations the Trump Administration promised. At Tucson International Airport, the federal government has been launching deportation flights.
KGUN 9's Craig Smith has a live report from the airport Friday at 6 p.m:
Deportation flights are not new. The government has used charter airliners to deport people before, but now there’s an added message to the deportations: using large military aircraft.
A C-17 cargo plane, designed to carry tanks and troops, was carrying people being deported from the country Thursday night. The White House says it has already deported more than 500 people, some of them associated with dangerous gangs.
Besides the Tucson flight, planes have been taking deportees from Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas.
The Associated Press caught images of C-17s dropping deportees in Guatemala.
While deportations play out, Southern Arizona Congressman Juan Ciscomani says the different border issues of immigration, cross-border trade, and security are so complex it will probably be impossible to address them in a single set of reforms.
In the meantime, he sees President Trump’s aggressive immigration moves as sending a message to the rest of the world.
“The border is no longer wide open for you to just show up, be able to make just appointments on the app, and then be able to give, be given a date, a court date, for three, four, five, even six years down the line that you never show up for," Ciscomani said.
"So the message is, if you show up, the questions are going to be asked immediately. And if you have a case that you have to wait a certain amount of time, you're going to wait on the Mexico side for that," said Ciscomani. "So all these are deterrent messages of saying, don't take the risk. Don’t put your life in the hands of the cartels.”
Immigration attorneys tell KGUN 9 the administration made a move that could make it easier to deport more immigrants. Customs and Border Protection had allowed asylum seekers to enter the US, and then be released on parole while their case spends potentially years in the courts.
Now the attorneys say the Trump administration has removed parole protections for people from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. That makes them vulnerable to arrest and deportation.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.