TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — On Monday it was business as usual at the Tucson International Airport as planes flew on and off the tarmac.
On Saturday though, it was slightly different with a C-17 military plane landing at the airport. It was a plane meant to deport undocumented migrants back to their home countries.
Taking a look at the tail number, this is the same C-17 plane that was at the airport last Thursday. The chief patrol agent of Border Patrol's Tucson Sector said it's the same one that carried 80 migrants that were here illegally to Guatemala.
On Monday ICE said they arrested more than 1,700 undocumented migrants, which they said is up by more than 700 from Sunday.
Border Czar Tom Homan said it’s sending a message.
“It’s sending a strong signal to the world, our border is closed,” Homan said.
This all comes as Colombia said they would accept undocumented migrants, changing their stance after President Trump said he would restrict visas and impose a 25% tariff if it didn't.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country has received more than 4,000 deported migrants since January 20. She said the U.S. has a history of repatriating migrants, not just with the Trump administration but with the Biden administration as well.
Senator Ruben Gallego said he agrees Trump should be using the military.
“The best thing we could do is work together to do this in a manner that number one, targets the criminals, protects some of these people that have long-standing roots in this country, and actually leads us to a path of legalization,” Senator Gallego said.
However, he criticized the Trump administration’s use of resources.
"What the president is doing is not sustainable. He's pulling ATF, FBI, DEA and making them provisional ICE agents, and pulling them off very important cases in order to have a show of numbers that they're not going to be able to meet,” he said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
