Rising Emissions from US Immigration Flights: A Growing Environmental and Humanitarian Concern
Amidst an increase in US immigration enforcement, the environmental impact of deportation flights is coming under scrutiny. As deportation efforts intensify, the carbon footprint from these operations is raising alarms among environmental and human rights advocates.
The surge in deportations under Donald Trump’s immigration policies has led to a significant rise in enforcement flights, contributing to the climate crisis. According to data shared with the Guardian, the carbon emissions from these flights have increased by at least 80% year over year.
Savitri Arvey, director of research and analysis for refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First (HRF), stated, “We’ve seen a staggering increase of all US immigration [enforcement] flights,” noting the growth in both the number of flights and their destinations.
In 2025 alone, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) air operations released an estimated 335,876 tonnes of carbon emissions, marking an 88% increase from the previous year. The trend continues into 2026, with emissions expected to rise further, exacerbating the climate crisis and impacting air quality in local communities including Phoenix, El Paso, Harlingen, and Alexandria.
Brett Heinz, global policy coordinator at the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which provided ICE flight emissions data to the Guardian, commented, “When we try to inflict suffering on immigrants, it … inflicts a lot of suffering on them – it also inflicts suffering on ourselves, on everyone. There’s no one that escapes when we’re trying to increase human misery.”
Furthermore, the stringent anti-immigrant agenda has led to a marked increase in arrests and deportations, affecting many immigrants without criminal convictions. According to the Deportation Data Project, arrests of non-criminal immigrants have risen eightfold since Trump resumed office, with a record 245 removal flights documented in a single month.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had pledged to target “the worst of the worst” but over 70% of detainees as of early April have no criminal convictions. The rapid repatriation of detainees without convictions has also doubled.
Arvey expressed concern over the lack of due process and the environmental impact of the increased flights, stating, “Across the board, we’ve been concerned that people are being put on flights without due process, separated from families, and then suffering … inhumane conditions on board.”
ICE’s air operations, which are carried out through chartered flights, have seen a significant budget increase. The agency now conducts an average of 58 enforcement flights daily, as observed by Human Rights First.
While the Biden administration had begun repatriating immigrants to destinations outside the western hemisphere, the Trump administration has expanded this practice to include flights to 79 countries, including those in Africa and Asia.
Heinz highlighted the irony of the situation, stating, “Climate change is a driver of migration. So the fact that the United States is accelerating climate change in [its] attempt to remove these immigrants seems like a vicious cycle in a very real way.”
Concerns about the environmental and humanitarian ramifications of these operations remain pressing as emissions from ICE flights continue to contribute to global warming and local air pollution. Mark Z Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, emphasized, “Every tonne of carbon and black carbon and methane that’s added to the atmosphere contributes more to global warming, and also the air pollutants contribute to air pollution mortality, morbidity.”
This article was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism and the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication’s 2025 Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellowship
Original Story at www.theguardian.com