The French national team arrived in Dallas on Sunday aboard an Airbus A320 jet. The day before, the same jet had been used for an ICE deportation flight to Nicaragua.
The French team has traveled on GlobalX charter flights to travel during the World Cup, as The Guardian first reported Thursday. GlobalX, a Miami-based charter airline, has maintained its traditional business while also operating a growing number of deportation flights since the Trump administration launched its mass deportation campaign.
This dual use has created a stark contrast, with planes used to carry deportees shackled to their seats soon returning to routine charter service. Although many Americans back deporting unauthorized immigrants, U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign has drawn extensive backlash over its forceful tactics and violent clashes with protesters.
POLITICO tracked the jet that carried Les Bleus to Dallas and asked researchers with ICE Flight Monitor, which tracks deportation flights, whether it had been used for Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations. The team posted Monday a video of players deboarding in Dallas from a jet with a “Global Crossing Airlines” insignia, the legal name of GlobalX.
“Under the second Trump administration, this particular plane conducted 323 ICE flights,” said Savi Arvey, director of policy for refugee and immigrant rights at Human Rights First, which oversees ICE Flight Monitor.
After departing Nicaragua on Saturday, the GlobalX jet flew on to Harlingen, Texas, an ICE deportation hub, and then Boston, the French team’s training base, according to data provided by ICE Flight Monitor. About 15 hours after landing in Boston, it departed for Dallas with the team aboard.
Representatives for the French football federation and GlobalX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Less than an hour after landing in Dallas, the GlobalX jet flew to Harlingen to conduct another deportation flight to Mexico.
Meanwhile, the Spanish national team arrived in Dallas aboard an American Airlines jet. The airline has not operated any ICE deportation flights.