US President Donald Trump suspends military flights for deportations due to THIS reason; how will it impact Indian immigrants?

United States President Donald Trump-led administration has decided to suspend the use of military airplanes to deport illegal immigrants, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The last military flight for deportation was sent from the US on Saturday, March 1.

The Trump administration began using military planes to deport undocumented immigrants either to their homelands or a military base in Guantanamo Bay soon after taking charge in mid-January.

However, the measure has turned out to be expensive and inefficient, the WSJ report said.

Costly affair
The US government traditionally uses commercial flights for deportations. However, the Trump administration used military flights as it wanted to send a message to the world about its stringent attitude on illegal immigration.

But military planes transported fewer people at a higher cost compared to civilian planes.

According to official data, a standard US Immigration and Customs Enforcement flight costs $17,000 per hour for international trips. In contrast, the cost of flying a C-17 aircraft of the US military – designed for transporting heavy cargo and troops – is $28,500 per hour.

Furthermore, the military planes had to take longer routes as the US has not been using Mexico’s airspace.

US deportations
So far, 30 flights using the C-17 aircraft and about a dozen using the C-130 aircraft have reportedly flown out of America for deportation operations.

Destinations for these flights included India, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Ecuador, among others.

Aboard some of these flights were over 300 Indian immigrants, who allegedly entered the US illegally.

After landing in India, the deportees said they had been handcuffed throughout the flight journey and freed only upon arrival.

The suspension of US military flights for deportation means that undocumented immigrants from India will now be returned on civilian flights either arranged for by the US or India.