New York:
The Trump administration has begun to use military planes to underline its determination to deport undocumented migrants.
But while the optics creates a good political theater, flights are expensive, up to $ 1 million (RS 8.74 million rupees) in the case of a recent deportation to India, according to an AFP analysis.
In fact, military flights can end up costing more than three times more than a civil trip, depending on the data.
President Donald Trump was elected with the promise of carrying out the greatest deportation “in the history of America.” While most migrants are in the target of expulsion come from Latin America, some are also being sent much further worldwide.
On Wednesday, a US Air Force load plane landed in Amritsar, with 104 Indian nationals who had illegally entered the United States, according to a statement from the United States government.
It is believed that flight is the first use of a military plane to deport people to India.
The images captured by an AFP photographer show that the plane used is a C-17A GlobeMaster III, a large military plane capable of transporting troops, vehicles and supplies.
The Globemaster is a battle horse from the United States Air Force, and has been used in military theaters worldwide since the fleet was first added for the first time in 1995.
But military flights are much more expensive to operate than charter flights that also use the application of immigration and customs (ICE) for deportations.
According to information published by ICE in 2021, the cost of a Charter flight is $ 8,577 per hour of flight, although flights that transport high -risk migrants can cost more.
The use of C-17 aircraft in transport operations is charged at $ 28,562 per hour, according to documents published by the US Air Mobility Command.
Military flights also take flight routes that are different from commercial airplanes, due to the sensitivity of operating in the airspace of another sovereign nation.
They also generally refuse in military air bases instead of shopping centers.
The Flightradar24 flight tracking data show that the deportation flight took off from the air station of the Miramar Marine Corps in San Diego, California, around 1330 GMT on Monday.
Then he flew west to Hawai, crossed the Pacific to the Strait of Light near the Philippines, flew between Indonesia and Malaysia, then took a great detour to the south to the Indian Ocean, where there is an American air base located on the small island by Diego García.
From there it flew thousands of miles (kilometers) north to India, landing in Amritsar on Wednesday afternoon, local time, more than 43 hours after California takeoff.
By counting the trip back to an air base in the US $ 10,000 per detainee.
In comparison, you can buy a single ticket from San Francisco to New Delhi on an American commercial airline for around $ 500, or $ 4,000 in executive class.
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