Washington: The U.S. is facing a huge financial burden in deporting undocumented immigrants using military aircraft. Due to high costs, authorities have temporarily halted these deportation flights. The last flight carrying deportees left the U.S. on March 1, and no new schedules have been made since. Officials are considering either extending this pause or making it permanent.

After Donald Trump assumed office in January, he intensified efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. Some were sent back to their home countries, while others were transferred to the Guantanamo Bay military base. The U.S. used 30 C-17 and 12 C-130 military aircraft for these operations, highlighting its strict stance on immigration. However, this process turned out to be extremely expensive.

For instance, deporting immigrants on three flights to India alone cost $3 million. The U.S. also spent $20,000 per person to transfer detainees to Guantanamo Bay, which is five times the cost of regular airline tickets. This expense is significantly higher than commercial charter flights arranged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Due to these soaring costs, authorities in the U.S. are now reconsidering their approach to deportations.