Donald Trump plans asylum deal with El Salvador to deport migrants as Mexico and Colombia refuse flights
Donald Trump is running into early roadblocks with his plans for mass deportation of illegal immigrants and is hoping that El Salvador is his saving grace.
Both Mexico and now Colombia are refusing to accept military flights of migrants being flown out of the U.S. back to their country of origin.
Colombia turned away two U.S. military aircraft that were full of the country’s residents who fled to the U.S. and are now being deported by the orders of President Trump, a U.S. official told Reuters.
The official said there were 80 migrants on board each of the two flights bound for South America when their clearances were pulled to land in Colombia.
Now, the Trump administration is working on a deal with El Salvador to accept migrants from third-party nations, which would block them from seeking asylum in the U.S.
Trump’s proposal to work with El Salvador appears inspired by Britain’s plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda, which failed to start because the ruling Conservative government was voted out.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X earlier on Sunday morning he would not allow the U.S. to touchdown with migrants on board military aircraft.
This comes after Mexican authorities also blocked the U.S. aircraft from deporting illegal immigrants to their country this week.
Mexico and Colombia have refused to let U.S. Military aircraft carrying illegal migrants land on their countries’ soil as Donald Trump ploughs ahead with his mass deportation plan
It is not clear why Mexican authorities blocked the flight – especially after the country’s Naval forces were seen erecting a temporary shelter to accept back those who crossed illegally over their northern border into the U.S.
Deporting migrants to foreign countries requires permission from the incoming nation’s government.
Trump signed approximately 10 executive orders related to illegal immigration and the migrant border crisis on his first week back in the Oval Office.
But a plane packed with migrants did not take off from the U.S. after Mexico said it would not permit it to land on their soil.
The flight was one of three that were set to take off on Thursday. The other two were bound for Guatemala carrying over 150 people.
Defense Department officials confirmed last week that their forces plan to fly 5,400 migrants who are currently in detention out of the U.S. on deportation missions.
Trump is working with El Salvador to try and reach a deal on them accepting deportation flights of migrants from third-party nations. Pictured: Migrants deplane a U.S. military aircraft after it landed in Guatemala on January 24, 2025
Donald Trump signed approximately 10 executive orders this week related to illegal immigration and the migrant crisis at the southern border
The aircrews and maintenance teams involved in the missions are in addition to the 1,500 active duty Soldiers and Marines who deployed to the border last week.
Four C-17 and C-130 military aircraft were moved to El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California this week, an official told Task & Purpose, in preparation for the deportation flights.
In his first moments back as president, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border.
Trump plans to send 10,000 active duty troops to the border as he directed the Defense Department to take ‘full operational control’ of addressing the national security crisis.
