An image that the White House provided in 2025 to show the deportation of migrants from the United States aboard a C-17. The specifics of the date and location as part of “Operation Safeguard” were not shared with the public.
FAIRFIELD, Calif. – A California lawmaker said she finds it “deeply unsettling” that ICE is using Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield for deportations.
‘Deeply unsettling’
Why you should care:
In an open letter, Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, a Democrat representing Solano and Contra Costa counties, said that President Donald Trump’s policies are to “sow fear and division, targeting vulnerable families who have built their lives there.”
Wilson said she is not attacking anyone who works at Travis Air Force Base, which confirmed to KTVU that they are “providing support to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s mission along the Southwest border.”
And she also said that it is “important to prevent illegal entry into our country and deport those committing crimes.”
However, Wilson said there is a “way to do this while treating people with dignity and respect.”
Her spokesman, Edgar Guerra, told KTVU that in the past, ICE would charter private planes to deport undocumented immigrants back to their home countries.
These C-17 military planes are normally used to ship cargo, move vehicles and provide humanitarian aid – not people.
His office is also fielding numerous reports that those being deported are facing “deplorable conditions.”
C-17 aircraft at Travis Air Force Base. Feb. 7, 2025
‘Operation Safeguard’
The other side:
Using military aircraft to deport immigrants is part of Trump’s “Operation Safeguard,” launched in January, which is aimed to “stem the unauthorized migration and human smuggling, and interdicting drug trafficking” in the United States.
The mission’s objective, the White House said, is to expel undocumented immigrants from the country. The White House provided a photo of what appears to be men waiting to board a C-17 at an unknown location.
Travis Air Force Base referred all other questions to ICE, which did not respond to a myriad of questions posed by KTVU, including how much the flights cost, how many flights are departing and how many people are being deported each week.
Costly flights
By the numbers:
Critics of Trump’s new deportation tactics say not only are the flights inhumane, but they also cost more money and are possibly against the law.
For example, Reuters highlighted one deportation flight from Texas to Guatemala costing $4,675 per migrant, compared to the $853 of a one-way first class ticket for the same distance.
Possibly illegal
Big picture view:
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), who is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), flagged this issue last month.
“President Trump’s use of military aircraft to enforce his immigration policy is deeply alarming, potentially unconstitutional, and a blatant abuse of presidential power,” Garimendi wrote.
He said that the law “explicitly prohibits” using active-duty military personnel for domestic law enforcement functions.
“Pulling U.S. troops and taxpayer resources from life-threatening disasters to support immigration enforcement is dangerous, inappropriate, wasteful, and a direct threat to our democratic principles,” he wrote.
Garamendi wrote Acting Defense Secretary Robert Salesses on Jan. 24, expressing his “grave concern” that the Department of Defense seems to have “rushed the process” to provide more military assets to the southern border, despite the number of encounters there being at its lowest point in years, and that the Department of Homeleand Security is responsible for border enforcement.
Garamendi pointed out that doing so harms other crises in the country, including the California fires, seeing as how the DOD diverted 500 Marines and sailors to the U.S.-Mexico border instead of helping out in Los Angeles.
