Two US military deportation flights go ahead to Guatemala. Use of US military aircraft for deportations unusual. Pentagon says its planes will deport 5,000 migrants.
Mexico has refused a request from President Donald Trump’s administration to allow a U.S. military aircraft deporting migrants to land in the country, a U.S. official and a Mexican official told sources.
U.S. military aircraft carried out two similar flights, each with about 80 migrants, to Guatemala on Friday.
The government was not able to move ahead with a plan to have a C-17 transport aircraft land in Mexico, however, after the country denied permission.
A U.S. official and a Mexican official confirmed the decision, which was first reported by sources.
Mexico’s foreign ministry, in a statement late on Friday, said the country had a “very great relationship” with the U.S. and cooperated on issues such as immigration.
