ICE IS DEPORTING PEOPLE TO AFRICA ON NEARLY UN-TRACKABLE MILITARY FLIGHTS [View all]

Source: Rolling Stone

Two American military cargo jets deported people to Africa this month on flights that appear to have had their transponders turned off, obscuring their locations from public flight databases and other nearby aircraft.

One of the jets was later identified in a lawsuit in U.S. federal court as carrying 14 Nigerian and Gambian nationals to a prison camp in Ghana. They have since been returned to their countries of origin, Ghana said, despite all having credible fears of persecution or torture. The other jet secretly landed in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali, according to communications from the flight deck obtained by Rolling Stone. Representatives for the governments of these countries did not respond to emails asking if this jet also included third-country nationals.

The secret flights are part of what appears to be a surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity across the African continent, following a pressure campaign led by President Donald Trump on many of the governments there over the summer.

“The administration is using military secrecy to cover for what is basically a law enforcement/immigration enforcement function,” an activist flight tracker who goes by JJ in DC told Rolling Stone. “If this is being done in our interest, we have a right to know where these deportation flights are going.”

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ice-deporting-africa-military-flights-1235431848/

NEW: Air Force jets are doing ICE flights to Africa with transponders turned off, making them nearly un-trackable.

This includes the third-country removal to Ghana and another secret flight. We figured out where it landed.

From me for @rollingstone.com:

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

— Gillian Brockell (@gbrockell.bsky.social) 2025-09-21T13:10:30.842Z