The Trump administration has turned San Diego into a deportation hub by using military and civilian airports for flights, according to data from a nonprofit tracking flights throughout the country.
Human Rights First documented nearly 120 deportation flights out of San Diego International Airport and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar last year. That’s a massive increase from 2024, when there was not a single deportation flight out of San Diego.
“The scale has just dramatically picked up from the past year,” said Savi Avery, who leads the nonprofit’s refugee and immigrant rights research program and runs the (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ICE Flight Monitor program.
And it’s not just Human Rights First that’s noticed the increase in flights. Miramar area resident David Kennedy has for years enjoyed hearing and watching F/A-18 Super Hornets and other military planes fly over his home.
But then about a year ago he started hearing the sounds of a different engine.
“So I started to look out my window and saw these commercial flights,” Kennedy said.
Historically, San Diego has not been a deportation flight hub.
Deportations here typically involved federal agents walking Mexican nationals to the south side of the border. Deportees from other countries have historically been flown to other U.S. cities and deported from there.
ICE outsources most of the flights to private carriers. In San Diego, most are handled by Global X and Eastern Air Express.
ICE began using San Diego International Airport for deportation flights in April 2025, according to the data from Human Rights First. Deportation flights out of MCAS Miramar began in July.
Avery said this is an example of the Trump administration using the country’s military infrastructure to advance his mass deportation campaign.
Human Rights First documented flights out of three other military bases, two in Texas and one in Georgia, starting last fall.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment or questions about whether the agency planned to use more military facilities for deportation flights.
In a statement, MCAS Miramar confirmed that its airport acts as a location for civilian, military and federal flights, but did not provide any other specifics regarding the ICE flights.
It’s not unusual for other government agencies and contractors to use the air station. Air Force One, the U.S. presidential plane, has landed at Miramar several times.
Human Rights First began tracking ICE flights in July 2025. Previously, the work was done by Tom Cartwright, a retired JP Morgan executive from Ohio.
Avery said their tracking data is useful to lawyers and relatives of people detained by ICE.
“We definitely get outreach from lawyers who might be concerned that the administration has flown someone in violation of a court order and need to stop a flight from taking off,” she said.
Sometimes, the organization hears from family members who don’t know if their loved one has already been deported and is trying to track them down.
“We hear that gives them a lot of comfort,” Avery added.
