Thread: Illegal immigrants get one-way trip home on ICE Air

Illegal immigrants get one-way trip home on ICE Air
By ERIC PALMER
The Kansas City Star


* Photo Gallery | ICE Air

The MD-80 that took off Friday from Kansas City International Airport carried about 120 passengers. Some were headed for Mexico, others to Central and South America.

Once off the ground, food and beverages would be served.

The flight was one of up to 180 flights flown each month by Kansas City’s only locally based airline. While most are to Central and South America, others are to such exotic locales as Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Palestine.

Yet most Kansas Citians will never get a seat on one of the flights — nor would want to.

The little-known Flight Operations Unit was established by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2006 to handle the repatriation of the surging number of illegal immigrants caught up in tougher enforcement.

In fiscal 2008, which ended Sept. 30, the airline delivered more than 76,000 OTMs (other than Mexicans) back to their homes, a 51 percent jump from two years before. It also delivered about 134,000 Mexicans, mostly to places like San Antonio or San Diego, before they were bused to the border.

This year’s budget for all transportation and removal efforts is $281.4 million.

It is not unlike running Delta Air Lines, said Craig Charles, a 22-year veteran of the immigration service and a Shawnee Mission South High School graduate, who is now acting director of flight operations for what is known as ICE Air. It works to fill every seat on each plane to keep costs low, keep flights on time and treat its passengers well.

“We are all about cost-effectiveness and safety and getting these people back to their homeland as fast as we can,â€

ICE Air gives illegals posh flights on taxpayer's dime
'There's no reason we can't treat them with as much respect as possible'

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Posted: December 01, 2008
11:09 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Illegal aliens are receiving free private flights home, complete with sandwiches, cheese, crackers, fruit, bottled water, civilian clothing, checked baggage and a private nurse on each plane – to the tune of $281.4 million U.S. taxpayer dollars this year.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has negotiated contracts with the Justice Prisoners and Aliens Transportation System to use four MD-80 planes for domestic flights, four 737s for flights to Central and South America and the Caribbean and other large aircraft for flights to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the Kansas City Star reported.

The free, one-way program, called ICE Air, is available only to illegal aliens and features flights to more than 190 countries.

The agency began the program in 2006 to deal with a flood of arrests following stricter enforcement of immigration laws.

While U.S. citizens may battle with holiday flight delays or edgy flight personnel, ICE strives to keep its flights running on schedule and its passengers treated well – with shackles and handcuffs removed for nonviolent, "noncriminal" passengers on international flights.

Acting director of flight operations Craig Charles, a 22-year ICE veteran, told the Star the agency tries to fill every seat to save money.

"We are all about cost-effectiveness and safety and getting these people back to their homeland as fast as we can," he said.

According to the report, more than 76,000 OTMs, or "other than Mexicans," were given flights back home in fiscal year 2008 (ending Sept. 30). Approximately 134,000 Mexicans were transported to U.S. cities such as San Antonio and San Diego before being given bus rides home.

When illegal aliens from Mexico reach the border, they are released.

Pat Reilly, ICE Air public affairs officer, said deportation can be tricky, because Mexico refuses to allow anyone other than its own citizens to enter the country by land. Therefore, other aliens must fly to their home countries.

"Mexico is a sovereign nation, and it doesn't take people who are not entitled to be there either, so if they are other than Mexican, they have to be flown over Mexico," Reilly told the Star.

Charles said taxpayers must foot the pricey bill when illegal aliens are housed, fed and provided health care while they are kept in ICE facilities and jails. When ICE flies them home on its own planes, the bill is reduced.

"It costs the American taxpayer around $700 a seat," he said. "If we sent everybody on commercial airlines, we just couldn't afford it."

Charles told the Star that ICE Air treats its passengers well in return for cooperation from other countries.

"We really want to make a good impression on these people," he said. "Those of us who have been around this for 20 years, we have seen the plight of these people. We can't get personal with this, but, again, there is no reason whatsoever that we can't treat them with as much respect as is possible. No one holds a grudge against these people."

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No one holds a grudge against these people

Oh really? They need to ask an out of work American who might be holding grudges.