By David Baker | AZ Family
TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily) — The White House said on Friday that deportation flights have begun, and some of those are happening in Tucson.
Photos posted from the Department of Defense show U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents loading up a C-17 GlobeMaster III at Tucson International Airport on Thursday night.
Dozens of people in the country were put on the plane, along with the water bottles and their belongings. The C-17 pilot then flew to Guatemala.
According to CBS News, the Tucson flight had 80 people and arrived around 7 a.m. in the Central American country.
The other flights were from El Paso, Texas.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so far this week, 538 people have been arrested for being in the country illegally and there have been 373 immigration detainers.
Early Friday morning, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared photos on X, formally known as Twitter, of military flights being used for deportations.
“Deportation flights have begun. 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 said.
Immigration attorney Darius Amiri said this is not a new thing.
“Deportations have happened as far back as I’ve been practicing law. It happened when Obama was president, President Biden, and they’ll happen under Trump,” Amiri said.
