DHS official: flight returned Colombian, Honduran nationals; ICE held press conference

Capt. Jonathan Carter of the U.S. Coast Guard said this week that the Department of Homeland Security returned a flight from Texas carrying Colombian and Honduran nationals who left voluntarily using the CBP home app.

Carter said the departures were voluntary and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials emphasized enforcement at a related press conference. "Self deporting through the CBP home app is the easiest and safest way to leave the U.S. It saves law enforcement resources, protects American tax dollars and gives these individuals a chance to return one day legally to live out the American dream," Carter said.

Carter said Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin "held a press conference exposing their crimes" and "made it clear the media should be focused on American victims, not criminal aliens." He also said ICE framed the removals as steps that keep Americans safe, characterizing the flight as having been "packed with violent illegal criminals." These characterizations and the press-conference particulars are reported in Carter's remarks in the transcript.

The transcript does not specify the number of people on the flight, the identities of those removed, or independent verification of criminal histories. The remarks in this report are limited to statements Carter made in the recorded remarks; no formal enforcement action, charge, or court disposition is documented in the transcript.