Miscommunication and confusion about a Defense Department manifest resulted in Mexico rejecting a U.S. deportation flight transporting illegal immigrants to that country this week.
Mexico was ready to accept the deportees and would have if not for the paperwork, a senior State Department official told Fox News.
Citing two U.S. defense officials and a third person familiar with the situation, NBC News reported that two Air Force C-17s bound for Guatemala carrying about 80 people each flew deportees Thursday night out of the U.S.
A third flight bound for Mexico never took off after Mexico declined to consent to the landing, the report said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
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Flying deportees into a foreign country requires the cooperation of that nation’s government. Cooperation was not an issue, Fox News was told.
Around 2,000 illegal immigrants were deported to Mexico on Thursday, both on the ground and in the air. In addition Mexico detained roughly 5,000 migrants within its borders.
The incident occurred as tensions over the Trump administration’s tough illegal immigration policies have strained relations between the countries.
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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she opposes Trump’s executive orders to combat illegal immigration, including reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires migrants to wait in Mexico while their asylum claims play out in the U.S.
Before taking office this week, Trump promised mass deportations, initially targeting criminal illegal immigrants and tougher immigration standards and vetting procedures.
The State Department official told Fox News that Mexican cooperation has been successful all week, and that Mexico has agreed to re-implement the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
Trump also ordered 1,500 active duty troops to the southern border to boost the military presence there.
In recent days, federal immigration authorities have made hundreds of arrests, including gang members and others with criminal histories, as part of Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
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