Rise in ICE Detainee Flights Amid Deportation Push Raises Transparency Concerns

Amid the hubbub of passengers and planes shuttling in and out of the international airport in Richmond, Virginia, each week there’s also a steady stream of flights bearing men and women in handcuffs.

Last week, CNN was there to see some of these passengers — detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — being unloaded from unmarked white vans, lined up under the wing of a Boeing 737.

As President Donald Trump moves to deport as many as 1 million immigrants a year from the US, putting more detainees on more airplanes, and with more frequency, has become a key feature of carrying out that endeavor.