Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump’s White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that deportation flights of illegal immigrants have begun.
The new press secretary shared the news alongside images of immigrants walking onto military aircraft for departure.
“Deportation flights have begun,” Leavitt posted to X on Friday.
“President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences,” she added.
One of the photos was taken at Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Fox News confirmed. The plane reportedly holds 80 people and was scheduled for departure to Guatemala.
Fox News reported that over 460 illegal immigrants were arrested by ICE this week after Trump signed executive orders related to the border, including some workers in Newark, New Jersey.
Trump border czar Tom Homan told CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday that deportation efforts had begun, but did not reveal details of locations or numbers.
“As I’ve said numerous times, we’re concentrating on public safety threats. That will be our priority out of the gate,’ Homan said. ‘So ICE officers are back to doing their job,” Homan told Bash.
“I wouldn’t call them raids,” he answered. “They’re targeted enforcement operations. They know exactly who they’re looking for, they know pretty much where they’ll find them.”
In addition, the Department of Defense ordered around 1,500 active duty service members to be deployed at the southern border wall. The active duty forces will join the 2,500 U.S. National Guard and Reserve forces already there.
The airlift support troops will fly helicopters to assist Border Patrol agents, help with the construction of barriers and provide deportation flights for more than 5,000 detained migrants.
“This is something President Trump campaigned on, the American people have [been] waiting for such a time as this, for our Department of Defense to actually take homeland security seriously,” Leavitt stated. “This is a number one priority of the American people, and the president has already delivered.”