Immigration and Customs Enforcement is bringing Americans stranded abroad due to the coronavirus back to the United States using flights that previously deported illegal immigrants.
“This was an ICE flight repatriating Hondurans to Honduras, & ICE arranged your bring stranded Americans home on the return flight from Honduras,” acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli tweeted Tuesday.
This was an ICE flight repatriating Hondurans to Honduras, & ICE arranged your bring stranded Americans home on the return flight from Honduras. pic.twitter.com/b46cgslboG
— Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli (@HomelandKen) March 24, 2020
ICE brought home 209 U.S. citizens on the return leg of deportation flights to both Honduras and El Salvador, according to Fox News.
The agency said in a statement that it will continue using flights deporting illegal immigrants to Central America to return American citizens and could also expand that process to other regions.
The Trump administration continues to deport illegal immigrants during the coronavirus outbreak despite protests from prominent Democrats in Congress. Rep. Ilhan Omar, for example, joined 14 other members of her party in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding a halt of all deportations to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
“Deporting people who may have been exposed to coronavirus to either countries that have few or no cases or to countries with weak health care infrastructure is an unacceptable risk to take,” the letter read. “Many countries, including the United States, are implementing strict border controls during this pandemic, and we should make no exception for ICE Air and deportations.”
