Detention Dispatches
Detention Dispatches: Frightful Night Flights
How ICE moves detainees under the cover of darkness.
This podcast series and other journalists and publications have been exposing ICE’s neglect of its detainees, which sometimes has fatal consequences especially in recent times. But another aspect of ICE’s billion-dollar-plus operation is a department that not only avoids oversight while spending hundreds of millions of dollars, but also underscores how the agency’s policies exacerbate the mistreatment of detainees, making them more susceptible to getting sick during this pandemic.
Ice Air has massively expanded in the six years of its existence. Starting in 2014 with four employees at its base of operations in Mesa, Arizona, it has expanded in six years to four more transport hubs, adding Miami, Florida, Alexandria, Louisiana, and San Antonio and Brownsville, Texas. And it now has over 150 employees. As a result the budget has increased dramatically, particularly since Donald Trump took office. For this upcoming budget year, which will start in October, the Trump administration is asking Congress for an increase to the budget for chartered flights to $210 million. And that would be more than double what the agency was spending on these types of flights during Barack Obama’s final year in office. That means even more detainees being flown around the country, exposed to more abuse and more opportunities to catch COVID.
Click here to subscribe and to listen to all of the past Detention Dispatches podcasts.
-
Latest NewsApril 8, 2024
Report: Banks Should Set Stricter Climate Goals for Agriculture Clients
-
Latest NewsApril 22, 2024
Oil Companies Must Set Aside More Money to Plug Wells, a New Rule Says. But It Won’t Be Enough.
-
Striking BackMarch 25, 2024
Unionizing Planned Parenthood
-
California UncoveredApril 9, 2024
700,000 Undocumented Californians Recently Became Eligible for Medi-Cal. Many May Be Afraid to Sign Up.
-
Feet to the FireApril 22, 2024
Regional U.S. Banks Sharply Expand Lending to Oil and Gas Projects
-
Class WarMarch 26, 2024
‘They Don’t Want to Teach Black History’
-
Latest NewsApril 10, 2024
The Transatlantic Battle to Stop Methane Gas Exports From South Texas
-
Latest NewsMarch 27, 2024
Street Artists Say Graffiti on Abandoned L.A. High-Rises Is Disruptive, Divisive Art