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Deportation Flight Tracking¶
ICE Air Operations — 49+ Flights Per Day¶
System Status: FEASIBILITY VALIDATED
Flight tracking infrastructure has been validated using public data sources. Full implementation is in queue after camp mapping reaches operational status.
The Scale¶
The Numbers
- 49+ flights per day (September 2025 data)
- 1,464 flights per month (September 2025)
- DOUBLED since Trump inauguration (January 20, 2025)
- 6 new Boeing 737s purchased by DHS in December 2025
The Fleet¶
iAero Airways (formerly Swift Air)¶
- Aircraft: Boeing 737s
- Fleet: 10 permanent + 14 standby aircraft dedicated to ICE
- Role: Primary deportation carrier
- Routes: Domestic transfers + international deportations
World Atlantic Airlines¶
- Aircraft: MD-83s (33-year-old planes)
- Role: Overflow capacity when iAero is maxed
- Safety concern: Aging aircraft used for human transport
DHS-Owned Fleet (New in 2025)¶
- Aircraft: 6 Boeing 737s
- Purchased: December 2025
- Significance: Government building its own deportation air force — no longer dependent on contractors
Known Deportation Airports¶
ICE Air Operations uses specific airports for staging deportation flights:
- Alexandria, LA (AEX) — Major ICE Air staging hub
- Mesa, AZ (IWA) — Southwest operations
- San Antonio, TX (SAT) — Texas operations
- Miami, FL (MIA) — Caribbean/Central America
- Multiple other civilian airports — Often using private terminals
Destinations¶
Standard Deportation¶
Countries receiving regular deportation flights from U.S.
CECOT & Offshore Gulags¶
Offshore Detention
The United States is now deporting people to CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo) in El Salvador — a mega-prison built by President Bukele, where detainees have no legal representation, no communication with families, and no release timeline.
People are also being deported to Haiti — a collapsed state where deportees face immediate danger.
This is offshore rendition. This is the deportation machine's final destination.
Our Tracking Approach¶
Existing Infrastructure (We're Not Alone)¶
| Organization | What They Track | Update Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Human Rights First | ICE Flight Monitor — comprehensive tracking | Monthly reports |
| Witness at the Border | Daily flight observations | Daily |
| Individual activists | Local airport monitoring | Ongoing |
| ProPublica | Investigative reporting | As published |
Public Data Sources¶
- ADS-B Exchange — Real-time aircraft tracking via ADS-B transponder signals
- FlightAware — Commercial flight tracking service
- FAA Registry — Aircraft ownership records
- Human Rights First — Aggregated monthly reports
Our Value-Add¶
What we contribute that nobody else has assembled:
- Camp-to-airport mapping — Which detention facilities feed which airports
- Pipeline synthesis — Arrest location → detention facility → airport → destination
- Tempo analysis — Is the machine accelerating? Decelerating? Shifting routes?
- Destination tracking — Who gets sent to CECOT vs. standard deportation
- Integration — Combining flight data with death data and camp data
The Pipeline Connection¶
ARREST (documented by geographic sweep)
↓
DETENTION (documented by camp mapping)
↓
DEPORTATION FLIGHT (documented by flight tracking)
↓
DESTINATION (CECOT, Haiti, standard deportation)
Flight tracking is the third system in our intelligence architecture. Combined with violence tracking and camp mapping, it reveals the complete deportation machine.