ICE conducts single adult, family unit removal flights September 20

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a component agency of the Department of Homeland Security, working in close coordination across the department, including with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, continued to facilitate removal flights of single adults and family units between September 16 and September 20.

Those included removal flights to Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. If a noncitizen arrives and has no legal basis to remain in the United States, they are processed and removed quickly, consistent with U.S. law.

In the year following the end of the Title 42 public health order — between May 12, 2023, and May 12, 2024 — DHS removed or returned over 742,000 individuals, the vast majority of whom crossed the southwest border, including more than 111,000 individual family members. Total removals and returns in that period exceeded removals and returns in every full fiscal year since 2010.

Since the presidential proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of certain noncitizens across the southern border and the complementary joint interim final rule issued by DHS and the U.S. Department of Justice fifteen weeks ago, DHS has removed and returned more than 140,000 individuals to more than 144 countries, including by operating more than 430 international repatriation flights. DHS has almost tripled the percentage of noncitizens processed through Expedited Removal while in CBP or ICE custody. Expedited Removal processing was already at record levels prior to the Proclamation.

In keeping with standard practice, the United States ensures that all noncitizens without a legal basis to remain in the United States are properly screened for valid protection claims and withholding of removal in accordance with our laws and U.S. international obligations. This applies to all noncitizens, regardless of nationality, to ensure the orderly and humane processing, transfer and removal of single adults and family units.

Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings present their claims for relief or protection from removal before immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. Due to operational security reasons, ICE does not confirm or discuss future or pending transportation operations.

ICE Air Operations facilitates the transfer and removal of noncitizens, including family units, via commercial airlines and chartered flights in support of ICE field offices and other DHS initiatives. In fiscal year 2023, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted 142,580 removals and 62,545 Title 42 expulsions to more than 170 countries worldwide.

B-roll for removal flights is available here. DHS has made additional videos available to the public and the media, including b-roll footage of removal flights, a public service announcement and testimonials from migrants who have been removed.