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Vance's Trump Force Two Campaign Plane Now Being Used for Deportation Flights [View all]
https://azmirror.com/2025/05/29/j-d-vances-campaign-plane-carried-anti-immigrant-rhetoric-now-it-carries-shackled-deportees/After Donald Trump tapped him as his running mate, J.D. Vance crisscrossed the country and gave speech after speech in which he, like Trump, demonized immigrants and promised to mount a mass deportation effort if elected.
The Boeing 737 that he used to travel around the nation is now being used to deport immigrants. Records show that it has made at least 16 flights to Central and South American countries to deport immigrants this year.
An Arizona Mirror analysis of publicly available data and records obtained by the University of Washington through Freedom of Information Act requests confirms that the 22-year-old jet is part of the fleet of planes known as “ICE Air” that swiftly shuttles immigrants out of the United States. ICE Air consists of multiple charter airlines and other private aviation companies around the country who are contracted to move immigrant detainees inside and out of the country.
Even before the plane was emblazoned with the Trump campaign logo in July 2024, it had been used at least four times to transport immigrant detainees during an earlier stint on the ICE Air fleet.
The Boeing 737 that he used to travel around the nation is now being used to deport immigrants. Records show that it has made at least 16 flights to Central and South American countries to deport immigrants this year.
An Arizona Mirror analysis of publicly available data and records obtained by the University of Washington through Freedom of Information Act requests confirms that the 22-year-old jet is part of the fleet of planes known as “ICE Air” that swiftly shuttles immigrants out of the United States. ICE Air consists of multiple charter airlines and other private aviation companies around the country who are contracted to move immigrant detainees inside and out of the country.
Even before the plane was emblazoned with the Trump campaign logo in July 2024, it had been used at least four times to transport immigrant detainees during an earlier stint on the ICE Air fleet.
It’s a little known fact, but there are genuinely not that many planes available for deportation to be carried out on. ICE doesn’t have its own fleet of aircraft. It contracts with private companies to provide charter air service. And there aren’t that many unbooked airplanes + crew floating around.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2025-05-30T22:20:20.855Z
No, ICE is genuinely trying to get more planes. They know this is an operational bottleneck. And it’s not just planes, there is also a pilot shortage.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) 2025-05-30T22:30:56.173Z
The scale of “mass deportation†has always been limited by operational constraints.
The reconciliation bill could change that. My piece:
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