Why Did Mexico Deny Permission to a US Deportation Flight?

Yesterday, C-130 military planes began flying illegal migrants out the country. The first two flights were headed to Guatemala.

U.S. military C-17 aircraft began flying out migrants on orders from President Donald Trump on Friday, as the Pentagon prepared to send even more troops to southern border, including from the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne division…

On Friday, two U.S. military aircraft, each carrying about 80 migrants, flew from the United States to Guatemala, a U.S. official told reporters.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt posted an image of migrants with chains around their waists being loaded onto the planes.

Deportation flights have begun.

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. pic.twitter.com/CTlG8MRcY1

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 24, 2025

However it turns out there is more to this story. There was a third plane that was supposed to take off around the same time, this one headed for Mexico. But Mexico reportedly denied permission for that plane to land so it never left.

Two Guatemala-bound Air Force C-17s, carrying about 80 people apiece, flew deportees out of the U.S. Thursday night, the sources said. The third flight, slotted for Mexico, never took off.

It was not immediately clear why Mexico blocked the flight, but tensions between the U.S. and Mexico, neighbors and longtime allies, have risen since President Donald Trump won the November election. Trump has threatened to slap 25% across-the-board tariffs on Mexico in retaliation for migrants crossing the border the countries share. 

So far neither the Mexican embassy nor the Trump administration has clarified what happened here. It certainly looks like Mexico is deciding to play hardball but if so that seems to go against recent reporting that the Mexican government was preparing to receive thousands of deported migrants.

Mexico’s plan to receive thousands of its deported citizens from the United States is nothing short of ambitious. Plans are underway to build nine reception centers along the border — massive tents set up in parking lots, stadiums and warehouses — with mobile kitchens operated by the armed forces.

Details of the initiative — called “Mexico Embraces You” — were revealed only this week, although Mexican officials said they had been devising it for the past few months, ever since Donald J. Trump pledged to conduct the largest expulsion of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history…

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico has called the expected large-scale deportations a “unilateral move” and has said she does not agree with them. But as the country with the single largest number of unauthorized citizens living in the United States — an estimated four million people as of 2022 — Mexico has found itself obligated to prepare…

Ms. Sheinbaum has signaled that Mexico could receive deportees other than Mexicans. She said, however, that her government planned to “voluntarily” return any non-Mexican nationals — including those waiting for asylum hearings in the United States — to their countries of origin.

That report was published yesterday so it’s not out of date. This week, Mexico was preparing for this and yet, for some reason, they denied the deportation flight entry to Mexico. Did they ask for more time? More notice? It’s not clear.

What is clear is that the United States seems to hold most of the cards in this situation. Trump has threatened to put large tariffs on Mexican goods if the border isn’t controlled. The State Department also provides money to the UN that winds up funding many of the organizations that assist migrants. If Mexico really decided to play hardball here they would have the most to lose. Stay tuned on this one. There should be more flights heading to Mexico in the coming days.