Trump Admin Uses Military Planes For First Deportation Flights As Migrants Are Warned Of 'Severe Consequences'

President Donald Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration has begun carrying out deportation flights as part of its immigration crackdown.

Leavitt published two pictures on her X account showing a group of people boarding a military plane, saying "President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences."

Fox News reported that one of the pictures was taken at Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss, in El Paso. A Department of Homeland Security official told the outlet the plane held 80 people and left for Guatemala on Thursday afternoon.

Guatemala will in fact be one of the countries Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit as part of his first overseas trip in the post. Immigration will be at the center of Rubio's agenda as he will also stop in Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

ABC News reported that the former senator will likely seek for the countries to take back their deportees and, in some cases, people from third countries as well. Guatemala is reportedly willing to take back its nationals as well as deportees from third countries as the administration of Bernardo Arevalo de Leon seeks to have smooth relations with Trump.

Concretely, Guatemala would receive citizens from other Central American nations, which constitute a large portion of those making their way up north. "We want to be part of the solution," a Guatemalan official who requested anonymity told Reuters in December.

In contrast, Honduran President Xiomara Castro is threatening to shut down the U.S. military base in the country if the administration carries out mass deportations of the country's nationals.

It is yet unclear the approach El Salvador will take. President Nayib Bukele published on Thursday a White House statement about a conversation he had with Trump. "he two leaders discussed working together to stop illegal immigration and crack down on transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua. President Trump also praised President Bukele's leadership in the region and the example he sets for other nations in the Western Hemisphere;" the brief text reads.

In Panama, Rubio is also expected to address an issue that has captured global headlines and become a point of contention: the Panama Canal. During his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump vowed to take back the Panama Canal, saying that the U.S. has "been treated very badly by this foolish gift that should have never been made," referring to the 1977 agreement with the Latin American country that would eventually lead to Panama retaining full control of the canal after 1999.

In that context, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Senate are taking steps to address the matter. Sen Eric Schmitt said he would introduce a resolution urging Panama to take action in response to what they view as China's growing influence in the region.