Mexico temporarily blocked a U.S. military plane from landing on Thursday, disrupting the Trump administration’s plans to deport immigrants to the country, according to U.S. defense officials and sources.
Two Air Force C-17 planes, each carrying about 80 deportees, departed the U.S. Thursday night for Guatemala, while a third flight scheduled for Mexico never took off.
The reason for Mexico’s decision remains unclear, but U.S.-Mexico tensions have grown since President Donald Trump’s election, fueled by his threats to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico over migration issues.
A White House official later referred to the incident as “an administrative issue” that was “quickly resolved.”
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted that Mexico had accepted a record four deportation flights in one day. However, it remains unclear whether the flights were military, commercial, or private.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government has criticized Trump’s restrictive immigration policies, including the “remain in Mexico” program, which forces asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their claims to be processed.
Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized cooperation with the U.S. while maintaining sovereignty, stating, “We will always welcome Mexicans returning to their homeland with open arms.”
Meanwhile, Guatemala received three U.S. deportation flights on Friday, two on military planes and one on a non-military aircraft, bringing 265 Guatemalans back to their home country.
These military deportation flights are part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration under Trump’s administration, which has included deploying additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
