Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation flights have seen a significant increase since the beginning of 2025, with recent months marking record levels of activity, according to analysis by immigration watchdog Witness at the Border researcher Thomas Cartwright.
The data reveals a substantial rise in ICE Air operations, with June and July 2025 each recording over 200 deportation flights – the highest numbers documented since Cartwright began monitoring these activities in 2020. This marks a considerable increase from January’s 109 flights.
The majority of these operations consist of domestic transfers between detention facilities, known as “shuffle flights,” which are primarily conducted based on bed space availability following increased ICE arrests. From January through July 2025, these internal transfers accounted for 3,650 flights, while connection and return flights totaled 1,539, and removal flights reached 1,101.
Domestic shuffle flights have shown particularly dramatic growth, escalating from 273 flights in January to 727 in July. This surge reflects the increasing movement of detainees between facilities across the United States.
Private charter airlines are handling the bulk of these operations, with GlobalX Air emerging as the dominant carrier, responsible for 50 percent of all flights in July. Eastern Air Express followed with 24 percent of flights, while Avelo operated 20 percent. Military flights accounted for just 2 percent of operations, with other carriers making up the remaining 4 percent.
The financial implications for these airlines are substantial, with reports from the Financial Times indicating that ICE-related operations generated more than half of GlobalX’s revenue during the second quarter of 2025.
The U.S. military’s involvement in deportation operations has been limited, conducting 68 flights between January and July, with nine of these routes including stops at Guantanamo Bay.
Given that ICE Air does not publicly release official flight information, this data has been compiled through public aviation tracking resources, including FlightAware, FlightRadar24, AirNav, and the ADB-S tracking system.
The increasing frequency of these flights suggests a heightened focus on immigration enforcement operations, with private carriers playing an increasingly crucial role in the transportation infrastructure supporting these activities. The shift toward domestic transfers indicates significant internal movement within the detention system, potentially reflecting broader changes in immigration enforcement strategies and facility management approaches.
These operations represent a growing sector of aviation services, with charter airlines adapting their business models to accommodate government contracts for immigration-related transportation. The concentration of services among a few key carriers, particularly GlobalX Air’s dominant position, highlights the specialized nature of these operations and the significant business opportunity they present for participating airlines.
The comprehensive tracking of these flights through publicly available data sources has provided unprecedented visibility into the scale and scope of ICE Air operations, despite the agency’s limited public disclosure of such information. This transparency has allowed for detailed analysis of trends in immigration enforcement activities and their associated transportation patterns throughout the first half of 2025.
The data demonstrates a clear upward trajectory in flight operations, particularly in the domestic transfer category, suggesting continued expansion of immigration enforcement activities and the associated transportation requirements across the United States detention system.