{"id":8766,"date":"2025-02-19T15:40:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T23:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/?p=8766"},"modified":"2025-08-04T10:25:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T17:25:25","slug":"research-shows-jblm-based-planes-used-in-military-deportation-flights-and-flights-to-guantanamo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/2025\/02\/19\/research-shows-jblm-based-planes-used-in-military-deportation-flights-and-flights-to-guantanamo\/","title":{"rendered":"JBLM-Based Planes Used in Military Deportation Flights and Flights to Guant\u00e1namo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the Trump administration’s recent pivot to using military planes in addition to private charter flights to conduct deportation flights, UWCHR researchers have found that between the start of the flights on January 24, 2025, to February 13, 2025, most military deportation flights were by planes stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in WA state. JBLM-based planes have also been used to transport detained immigrants to a detention camp at Guant\u00e1namo Bay.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the role of WA state military bases in fueling the inhumane deportation machine?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Military deportation flights<\/h3>\n

This Tacoma Tribune article by Craig Sailor first asked the question, “Are Trump administration deportation flights using planes from Joint Base Lewis-McChord?”<\/a> and cited tail flash showing a green stripe for the “McChord” base. <\/span>Using data collected by Witness at the Border, UWCHR researchers matched other planes involved in deportation flights with their home military base using the identifiers on their tail flash.<\/p>\n

In one example, this plane with tail number 099210 was stationed at JBLM on Feb 10, 2025. Two days later that plane was used to deport 119 people, of mostly Asian nationalities, to Panama.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These removal flights, many of which have been conducted on JBLM-based planes, of immigrants of different nationalities to Panama (and at the time of writing this post, proposals to include El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica) ring alarms by sending people to countries where they do not have citizenship or personal ties and may be at the risk of grave human rights violations. Concerns over the conditions of people detained in Panama are documented by this New York Times article<\/a>, \u201cThey were stripped of their passports and most of their cellphones, they said, and then locked in a hotel, barred from seeing lawyers and told they would soon be sent to a makeshift camp near the Panamanian jungle.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Military flights to Guant\u00e1namo Bay<\/h3>\n

In addition to removal flights, UWCHR found that planes based out of JBLM have been used to transport detained immigrants to Guant\u00e1namo Bay. As of February 13, 3035 \u2013 of the five different military planes used for these flights, two have been planes belonging to JBLM.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ProPublica reports<\/a> the alarming conditions that people are being held under at Guant\u00e1namo: \u201cThey [family members of those detained] said the U.S. government has given them neither information about the detainees\u2019 whereabouts nor the ability to speak with them. Attorneys say they have also been denied access.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, this ACLU lawsuit<\/a> cites of the lack of access to attorneys and the outside world, saying immigrants sent to Guant\u00e1namo are “effectively disappeared into a black box” and held incommunicado. The lawsuit states, “The government has also withheld information regarding the legal basis for these individuals\u2019 transfers and confinement at Guant\u00e1namo, the likelihood of their continued detention, the immigration status of the transferred individuals, the nature of any legal proceedings against them, the conditions of their confinement, and the government\u2019s treatment of and plans for these individuals.” This is essentially leaving the public without information on who is being held, why, and for how long.<\/p>\n

This week, a Seattle-area family identified a family member being held at Guant\u00e1namo Bay. The family recognized his name on a list of names published by the New York Times<\/a> of people held at the detention camp.<\/p>\n

The Seattle Times covered the story:<\/a> \u201c’What they are saying is lies,’ Medina Andrade\u2019s sister told a small crowd of supporters and reporters at Sunday\u2019s news conference on the steps of the federal courthouse in Seattle. ‘He was running from the very gang they are accusing him of being in.’\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Explore more of UWCHR’s work monitoring ICE flights and detention conditions here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the Trump administration’s recent pivot to using military planes in addition to private charter flights to conduct deportation flights, UWCHR researchers have found that between the start of the flights on January 24, 2025, to February 13, 2025, most military deportation flights were by planes stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in WA state.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":8782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,325,362,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-rights-at-home","category-ice-air","category-immigrant-rights-observatory","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJBLM-Based Planes Used in Military Deportation Flights and Flights to Guant\u00e1namo - Center for Human Rights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/humanrights\/2025\/02\/19\/research-shows-jblm-based-planes-used-in-military-deportation-flights-and-flights-to-guantanamo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JBLM-Based Planes Used in Military Deportation Flights and Flights to Guant\u00e1namo - 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