US Air Force Aircrafts Will Conduct Deportation Flights

The officials announced on January 22 that the Pentagon will utilize U.S. Air Force C-17s and C-130s to deport 5,400 individuals currently held by Customs and Border Protection.

This is the first step in President Donald Trump’s broad pledge to crack down on unauthorized immigrants and strengthen border security.

1,500 active-duty troops are being deployed to the southern border to assume “complete operational control of the southern border of the United States,” according to a statement released by Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses.

A senior military source told reporters, “At this time, we also expect that some additional airborne intelligence surveillance support assets could move down to the border to increase situational awareness.”

Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said in a statement that the State Department will handle official clearances.

He added that the Department of Homeland Security will provide in-flight law enforcement on the flights.

The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security are still deciding where the migrants will be flown to.

“You have manned platforms that could find support as well, so that is still not fully decided yet,” the senior military official said.

Strengthening The Border

One thousand soldiers and five hundred marines are among the 1,500 forces being dispatched.

They are joining the roughly 2,500 military personnel who have already been sent to the southern border.

Regarding the fresh deployments, the senior military official stated, “These forces will work on the emplacement of physical barriers and other border missions.”

“They should start their first operations in the next 24 to 48 hours. As we sit here, they are in motion.” He added

If additional airborne assets are deployed for surveillance along the border, they will be drawn from a variety of services and not just the Air Force, U.S. officials said.“This will be multi-service,” the senior military official said.

In an executive order issued on January 20, Trump tasked U.S. Northern Command with “sealing the borders” by “repelling forms of invasion.”

The Posse Comitatus Act forbids the U.S. military from carrying out law enforcement functions.

In his executive order, however, Trump claimed that their use was warranted because he had proclaimed a border emergency.

He said that the border emergency was to prevent “forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.”

Trump has instructed the leaders of the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon to provide a report within ninety days.

This is regarding their opinions on whether the 1807 Insurrection Act, which permits the use of American troops to quell domestic violence, should be applied.