Record Expansion of ICE Deportation Flights to 79 Countries
ICE Air conducted 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries in one year -- a 46% increase over the Biden era -- including to 25 countries that had never received ICE flights. Domestic transfer flights surged 132%. Airlines increasingly concealed flight details from public tracking.
In the first year of the second Trump administration, ICE Air conducted 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries -- a 46% increase in flights and 76% increase in destinations over the previous year. Domestic transfer 'shuffle' flights surged 132% to 9,066. Airlines increasingly hid aircraft details from flight trackers. Human Rights First documented flights to 25 countries that had never previously received ICE deportation flights.
Executive summary
What this record documents
- 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries from January 20, 2025 to January 20, 2026 -- a 46% increase in flights and 76% increase in destinations.
- Removal flights included 25 countries that had never previously received ICE deportation flights.
- Domestic transfer 'shuffle' flights surged to 9,066 -- a 132% increase -- with ICE Air using 35 new local airports.
- September 2025 set the record with 1,464 enforcement flights -- an average of 49 flights per day.
- Airlines increasingly concealed aircraft details from flight tracking services.
Timeline
Sequence of events
January 20, 2025
Administration takes office; deportation flights escalate
ICE Air begins scaling up deportation operations immediately upon the administration taking office.
September 1, 2025
Record monthly flight total
ICE Flight Monitor recorded at least 1,464 immigration enforcement flights in September 2025, the highest monthly total on record, averaging 49 flights per day.
January 20, 2026
First-year totals: 2,253 flights to 79 countries
Human Rights First documented 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries in the administration's first year, with 9,066 domestic transfer flights and flights to 25 previously unreached countries.
February 28, 2026
February 2026 flight monitor shows continued escalation
Human Rights First's February 2026 report showed ICE Air flights continuing to expand as the administration escalated its mass deportation campaign.
Analysis
Reporting, legal context, and impact
What Happened
In the first year of the second Trump administration (January 20, 2025 to January 20, 2026), ICE Air conducted 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries -- a 46% increase in flights and a 76% increase in destination countries compared to the last year of the Biden administration. Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor documented the expansion using publicly available aviation data, revealing the largest deportation flight operation in US history.
Scale and Reach
The expansion was dramatic across every metric:
- Deportation flights: 2,253 to 79 countries (up 46%)
- New destinations: 25 countries received ICE deportation flights for the first time, including record numbers to Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
- Domestic transfers: 9,066 "shuffle" flights between detention centers and deportation staging facilities (up 132%)
- New airports: ICE Air operated out of 35 new local airports
- Peak month: September 2025 saw 1,464 enforcement flights -- an average of 49 flights per day
Transparency and Secrecy
As the flight operation expanded, transparency decreased. Airlines involved in deportation flights increasingly concealed their aircraft details from public flight tracking services, making independent monitoring more difficult. Human Rights First noted that many deportation actions were carried out with "little to no transparency" and that several had been determined to be unlawful by federal courts.
The ICE Flight Monitor was created specifically to respond to this "lawlessness and lack of information," using publicly available aviation data to track enforcement flights that the government does not voluntarily disclose.
Airlines Involved
Human Rights First documented that Avelo Airlines flew nearly one in five ICE flights, making it a major participant in the deportation infrastructure. The involvement of commercial or charter airlines in mass deportation operations raises questions about corporate responsibility for human rights impacts.
Connection to Specific Abuses
The flight expansion is the logistical backbone of multiple documented abuses:
- Third-country deportations: Flights to 25 new countries enabled the expansion of deportation to nations where deportees have no ties or legal status
- Cameroon: Secret flights delivered non-Cameroonian nationals to a country where they were immediately tortured
- Haiti: Flights continued to a country where the FAA banned US airlines from landing due to gang gunfire
- El Salvador: Flights delivered deportees to CECOT where they face documented torture conditions
Why This Entry Is Rated Severe
- Unprecedented scale: 2,253 flights to 79 countries in one year
- 25 new destination countries: Expansion of deportation to nations never previously targeted
- Opacity: Airlines hiding flight details from tracking; government not disclosing operations
- 132% surge in domestic transfers: The "shuffle" system moves detainees away from legal representation and into deportation staging
- 49 flights per day at peak: The industrial scale of the operation
- Enables documented abuses: The flight system is the delivery mechanism for documented torture, refoulement, and other violations
Linked reporting
Reporting and secondary sources
ICE Air Expands Deportation and Domestic Transfer Flights to Record Levels in First Year of Second Trump Administration
ICE Flight Monitor
ICE Flight Monitor: September 2025 Report
ICE Flight Monitor: February 2026 Report
New ICE Flight Monitor Report Shows Avelo Airlines Flew Nearly One in Five ICE Flights
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