Handcuffed and Shackled, Illegal Migrants Head Home on U.S. Military Planes

The U.S. Transportation Command pressed into service massive C-17 aircraft to carry hundreds of illegal migrants arrested the past week, to their homes in several South American countries.

Amid protest by authorities in  Brazil and Guatemala over the “inhuman” treatment of their nationals, the migrants landed in their home countries to be freed from their shackles upon arrival.

The U.S. Air Force released images of the migrants seated in jump seats wearing handcuffs and shackles and their faces covered in masks for the long journey home- often between four to six hours without access to a rest-room.

The plan to remove migrants is huge as more than 1 million migrants were allowed into the U.S. under two Biden-era programs.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamin Huffman signed the memo that gives immigration authorities permission to begin removing migrants who were lawfully admitted to the country under two programs that depend on an authority known as humanitarian parole.