Washington – Mexico denied the access of an American military plane to Earth on Thursday, at least temporarily frustrating Trump administration plans to deport immigrants to the country, according to two US defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation.
Two C-17 of the Air Force bound for Guatemala, which lead to about 80 people each, left the United States on Thursday night, the sources said. The third flight, slotted for Mexico, never took off.
It was not clear immediately why Mexico blocked the flight, but the tensions between the United States and Mexico, residents and allies of a lifetime have increased since President Donald Trump won the November elections. Trump has threatened to slapped 25% of rates at the level in Mexico in retaliation for migrants who cross the border that countries share. But it has not yet put them in force.
A White House official said in a text message that “the flight issue was an administrative problem and quickly rectified.”
The Mexican embassy did not immediately return a request for comments.
The government of Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has said that Trump opposes “unilateral” measures to implement restrictive immigration standards, including the restitution of a policy of “remaining in Mexico” that forces migrants to remain in that country while waiting for the award of asylum claims. The deported flyers in a foreign country require the cooperation of the government of that nation, and Mexico refused to give their consent.
Military deportation flights are part of a broader Trump administration against illegal immigration that has been launched with the executive orders signed in their first week in office. During his campaign, he promised to stop illegal immigration in the United States and follow a massive deportation campaign of undocumented immigrants who already live in the country.
In addition to the flights, he has enlisted the military to reinforce their presence on the border with 1,500 additional troops.
Megan Lebowitz and Julia Ainsley contributed.
