Press Release
Published on March 16, 2026
Washington, D.C. — ICE Air Operations continued its rapid expansion in February 2026, with new charter carriers and record daily domestic transfer flights, according to Human Rights First’s latest ICE Flight Monitor report. The findings show a continued escalation of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, including 183 removal flights to 31 countries and continued use of forced third-country transfers. Read the full report here.
In February, ICE Flight Monitor documented 1,630 immigration enforcement flights—an increase of 155 percent over the 638 flights recorded in February 2025, driven by the rapid expansion of ICE Air’s subcontracted private charter network. Over the month, domestic “shuffle” flights between detention centers and deportation staging hubs averaged 42 per day—up from 39 in January 2026 and just 13 in February 2025—with at least 1,170 such flights in total, a 227 percent jump from the 358 shuffle flights tracked in February 2025.
“Last week in Guatemala City, I saw firsthand the devastating impacts of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign that continues to separate families and leave a devastating human toll”, said Savi Arvey, director of Research and Analysis for Refugee and Immigrant Rights at Human Rights First. “I spoke with Guatemalans who were deported on ICE Air flights after living in the United States for decades. Many told me about the U.S. citizen children they were forced to leave behind and the abuse they endured at the hands of ICE agents, who several told me treated them like animals. I also spoke with Hondurans and Salvadorans who said they didn’t learn they were being deported to Guatemala until they were already in the air.”
Key findings from February 2026 include:
Bighorn Airways, a new private charter airline, has begun operating ICE Air domestic transfer flights, expanding the ICE Air network of flights between U.S. detention centers. Its 37–40-seat planes now fly frequent routes, with eyewitnesses confirming shackled passengers aboard. Since mid-December, there have been 269 domestic shuffle flights on Bighorn planes, 173 of them in February alone.
Domestic transfer (“shuffle”) flights reached record daily levels in February, moving individuals between detention centers across the country. These flights averaged 42 per day—up from 39 per day in January and just 13 per day in February 2025. Despite having only 28 days, February still saw at least 1,170 domestic shuffle flights, nearly matching January’s 1,196.
February saw 183 removal flights to 31 countries as part of the Trump administration’s escalating mass deportation campaign. This marks a sharp increase from 126 flights in February 2025 and 137 in February 2024, with Guatemala and Honduras alone accounting for 45 percent of all February 2026 removal flights.
Forced third‑country transfers continue, with a second flight carrying non-Cameroonians to Cameroon on February 15 under an opaque U.S.–Cameroon agreement. The Trump administration also carried out flights carrying non‑Ecuadorans to Ecuador and non‑Hondurans to Honduras under Asylum Cooperative Agreements, as well as non-Guatemalans to Guatemala aside of the parameters of the ACA.
Read the report here.
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About ICE Flight Monitor
ICE Flight Monitor uses publicly available aviation data to track U.S. immigration enforcement flights operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and partner agencies. The project provides transparent, data-driven reporting to strengthen accountability and expose the human costs of mass deportation.
