Waste of the Day: Deportation Flights are More Expensive Than First Class

Topline: In the first few weeks of President Donald Trump’s second administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has increased deportations but illegal immigrants are not being flown out of the country in economy class.

Costs of a typical deportation flight, counting fuel, crew, etc.

Instead, ICE is using military planes that cost five times more than flying first class, according to estimates from Reuters. 

Key facts: A Jan. 27 deportation flight from El Paso, Texas to Guatemala used a C-17 military plane, which an anonymous official told Reuters costs $28,500 per hour to operate. 

That means the 10-and-a-half-hour round-trip cost $299,250, or $4,675 for each of the 64 migrants on board. A first-class ticket for the same route on American Airlines costs $853, Reuters reported.

Costs for the charter ICE flights during Joe Biden’s administration varied – between $8,577 per hour and $17,000 per hour, Reuters reported.

The most alarming part is the C-17 is one of the cheaper planes ICE intends to use under Trump. Deportations will also use C-130E planes, which MSNBC estimates cost a whopping $71,000 per hour, or $852,000 for a 12-hour round trip.

The C-130E planes certainly seem overqualified. They are “four-engine, turboprop-powered, tactical airlift aircraft capable of operating from austere airfields” and are the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas.”

Is it worth it?

The military flights are extravagant but are still only a “small fraction” of total deportation flights, the New York Times reported. They appear to be more about publicity than practicality. White House Press Secretary posted a picture of a C-17 on social media with the caption, “President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Critical quote: “Look how tough it makes [the Trump administration] look to use these big military planes,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said. “Roughly $800,000 wasted every single day. If you created a bonfire of all that money, it would outshine the sun. But that’s money they are lighting on fire for no other reason than they think it looks cool, looks tough.”

Summary: Trump’s immigration policy is wildly different from Biden’s, but they both have one thing in common: a propensity to waste absurd amounts of cash.

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This article was originally published by RCI and made available via RealClearWire.