US immigration enforcement flights are increasing sharply, with unprecedented numbers of people being transported to detention centers far from home and deported worldwide. Data analysis indicates an at least 80% year-over-year increase in such flights tied to mass deportation efforts. ICE air operations emitted an estimated 335,876 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2025, an 88% increase from the prior year. Emissions are projected to rise further in 2026 based on the first four months of data. The emissions intensify the climate crisis, which can drive irregular migration, and they also pollute air in local communities used as flight hubs, including Phoenix, El Paso, Harlingen, and Alexandria.
"US immigration enforcement flights are producing hundreds of thousands of metric tonnes of climate-damaging carbon emissions as officials shuttle unprecedented numbers of people to detention centers far from home and deport them to countries across the world. Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign has spurred at least an 80% increase in such flights year over year, accelerating the climate crisis by emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide, according to data analysis shared exclusively with the Guardian."
"We've seen a staggering increase of all US immigration [enforcement] flights, including the number of flights as well as the locations that the flights are going to, said Savitri Arvey, director of research and analysis for refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First (HRF), the US advocacy group. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) air operations pumped into the air an estimated 335,876 tonnes (37,0240 US tons) of carbon emissions in 2025, up 88% from the year before."
"Those emissions exacerbate the climate crisis, a driver of irregular migration in itself, while polluting the air in local communities used as flight hubs, such as Phoenix, El Paso and Harlingen in Texas, and Alexandria in Louisiana. An area chart showing emissions from ICE enforcement flights went up 87% between 2024 and 2025"
"When we try to inflict suffering on immigrants, it inflicts a lot of suffering on them it also inflicts suffering on ourselves, on everyone. There's no one that escapes when we're trying to increase human misery, said Brett Heinz, global policy coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the social justice organization that shared its ICE flight emissions calculations with the Guardian. He added: The pollution that these flights cause is causing harms to every single family i"
#us-immigration-enforcement #ice-deportation-flights #carbon-emissions #climate-crisis #air-pollution
Read at www.theguardian.com
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