US authorities have deported illegal migrants to India using a military transport plane, Reuters reported.
A US military C-17 transport plane carrying migrants has taken off for India“, a US official confirmed. The flight will last at least 24 hours.
The US has previously used military transport planes to send illegal migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras. As the agency notes, “this is an expensive method of deporting migrants“. For example, their deportation to Guatemala costs approximately $4,700 per person.
US President Donald Trump has declared that the first to be expelled from the country will be illegal immigrants who are "hardened criminals".
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency on the US-Mexico border. The US leader said that this would allow troops to be sent to the southern border to "repel a catastrophic invasion" of illegal immigrants into the country. Previously, the Republican has repeatedly spoken out in favor of tightening immigration policy. He said he intends to carry out the largest deportation operation of illegal immigrants in American history.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Monday as part of a diplomatic tour aimed at persuading Latin American countries to do more to curb illegal migration to the southern US border, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Rubio met with Bukele and the Salvadoran foreign minister at the presidential residence on the shores of Lake Coatepeque near the capital San Salvador.
El Salvador and the United States are close to finalizing an agreement on migration, Bukele said after his meeting with Rubio.
Asked by reporters whether El Salvador would become a so-called safe third country to receive migrants deported by the US from other countries, the president said that work on the agreement was continues that it will be even broader, redirecting media representatives to seek information about the details of the agreement from the US Secretary of State.