5/6/20

By Tom Cartwright

DEATH FLIGHTS – 6 May 2020

11 FLIGHTS - 2 deportations. Honduras and Guatemala

Ø Today was a slower day yet 2 deportation flights and more shuffling.

Ø Today our friends in El Paso, Debbie Nathan and the El Paso Anti-Deportation Squad witnessed a flight from El Paso to Honduras. They saw about 23 deportees, men and women. We thank them for their witness and continuing to show ICE people are watching. It is their photo in today’s post. A woman.

Ø Today, Carlos Ernesto Escobar, a 57-year old man from El Salvador, who was being held at OTAY detention center died from COVID. He tested positive on April 24.

- 132 detainees there have been infected. No one knows how many Core Civic contractors have been That is a secret. Hope is slipping away. COVID is taking hold. Releasing detainees is being resisted at every point. Advocates, lawyers keep fighting every day. To save lives. We owe them, our admiration and thanks, And the same for the media that shed light of this US darkness.

Ø 705 detainees have been positive for COVID., up 31 today. Those tested increased by 114 to 1,460. Of those tested almost half have been positive. The increase may appear as if ICE is attempting to ramp up testing in the centers. We are not so sure. There have been 3 days where testing numbers have increased by 100 or more. One of those was today. In the cases of the first 2 times those days were followed 2 or 3 days later by a flight to Guatemala. We expect there will be one tomorrow or Friday. Guatemala is requiring all deportees to be tested and have proof. It is almost as if any substantial increase in testing may be related tin great part to the Guatemalan deportations rather than making any serious effort to stop the spread in the centers.

Here are the flights for today. The number behind the leg indicates a single individual planes path.

- PHOENIX to EL PASO – 1

- EL PASO to HONDURAS – 1

- HONDURAS to PHOENIX – 1

- BROWNSVILLE to GUATEMALA – 2

- GUATEMALA to EL BROWNSVILLE- 2

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) -to MINNEAPOLIS - 3

- MINNEAPOLIS to OMAHA – 3

- OMAHA to KANSAS CITY - 3

- KANSAS CITY to BROWNSVILLE – 3

- ALEXANDRIA (LA) – MINNEAPOLIS – 4

- MINNEAPOLIS to ALEXANDRIA (LA) - 4

Note: ICE Air does not disclose their flights. Flight listing gleaned from public flight information, knowledge of detention center locations, air charter services and historic patterns. In rare cases, there may be a flight we miss, or include in error.