ICE Rescues 100s of Americans Stranded in Central America During Coronavirus Crisis
ICE Air Operations brings back stranded US citizens
© press
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has rescued and returned stranded U.S. citizens from Central America who became stuck amid the coronavirus pandemic.
ICE Air Operations, the agency's air transportation arm, confirmed it rescued 130 U.S. citizens from Honduras and 127 U.S. citizens from El Salvador.
A total of 466 U.S. citizens stranded in Central America has now been rescued since the outbreak.
ICE said in a statement Saturday:
“ICE will continue to work with the State Department to facilitate the safe return of U.S. citizens on future removal flight returns from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic."
The press release added the operations could expand to countries outside of the Northern Triangle of Central Americ, including Guatemala, Honduras, and es El Salvador.
© press
The Trump administration is continuing to deport illegal immigrants during the coronavirus outbreak despite backlash from the Democrats.
“Deporting people who may have been exposed to coronavirus to either countries that have few or no cases or to countries with weak health care infrastructure is an unacceptable risk to take,” the letter read.
“Many countries, including the United States, are implementing strict border controls during this pandemic, and we should make no exception for ICE Air and deportations.”
This was an ICE flight repatriating Hondurans to Honduras, & ICE arranged your bring stranded Americans home on the return flight from Honduras. pic.twitter.com/b46cgslboG
— Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli (@HomelandKen) March 24, 2020
BREAKING: Omar calls for release of ICE detainees amid Coronavirus Crisis
— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) March 25, 2020
READ MORE: https://t.co/0S2zI7zBKG
© press
As Neon Nettle reported earlier last week, acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli announced the move in a series of tweets that showed pictures of the Americans being brought home.
“This was an ICE flight repatriating Hondurans to Honduras, & ICE arranged to bring stranded Americans home on the return flight from Honduras,” he tweeted.
On Friday, an American women’s tackle football team was airlifted out of Honduras by the U.S. military after being stuck there for nearly a week.
Last year, the Trump administration made many Asylum Cooperative Agreements with Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, which included cooperation for returning migrants to their countries.
