President Donald Trump has begun flying ‘illegal immigrant criminals’ out of the United States today in what he calls the ‘largest deportation operation’ in American history. More than 500 arrests were made yesterday before the first flights out of the United States began this evening.
One of the flights reportedly left El Paso, Texas for Guatemala, with photos of immigrants deboarding the plane shared on social media. Just days ago, the Pentagon began deploying as many as 1,500 active-duty troops to help secure the US-Mexico border.
![[Guatemalan migrants board a bus after arriving at La Aurora Air Force Base on a deportation flight from the U.S., in Guatemala City, Guatemala, January 24, 2025. Instituto Guatemalteco de Migracion/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_237194870-73aa.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The executive order, posted to the White House website, wrote of Trump’s plan to prevent undocumented immigrants from ‘invading’ communities and costing state and local government. And a policy which previously restricted officer’s abilities to arrest undocumented immigrants at ‘sensitive’ locations, such as schools, churches and hospitals, has been rolled back.
The US Department of Homeland Security said: ‘Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. ‘The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.’.
Tom Homan, Trump’s ‘border czar’, also claimed officers could arrest undocumented immigrants who aren’t suspected of crimes, but who are ‘near’ those who are arrest targets. Chicago, one of the sanctuary cities where people are not asked about their immigration status, is expected to be an early target. Up to 200 immigration enforcement officers are being sent there for the operation, the outlet reports.
