US military aircraft have started flying detained migrants out of America on the orders of Donald Trump, as Mexico refused a request from his administration to allow a deportation plane to land in the country.

It comes as the White House released images of men whose hands and ankles were shackled being led on to a plane.

Mr Trump‘s press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted the photos on X and declared: “Deportation flights have begun.”

She said Mr Trump was “sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences”.

Two US military aircraft, each carrying around 80 migrants, flew from America to Guatemala on Friday.

One C-17 reportedly took off from Biggs Army Air Field in Texas, while another C-17 departed from Tucson in Arizona.

But a plan to have another C-17 transport aircraft land in Mexico foundered after the country denied permission.

It was unclear why permission to land was denied.

Mexico’s foreign ministry said the country had a “very great relationship” with the US and cooperated on issues such as immigration.

‘Putting an end to illegal migration’

It was the first time in recent memory that American military aircraft were being used to fly migrants out of the US, according to an official.

Such planes have in the past been used to relocate people from one country to another, including in 2021 during the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“Guatemala and the United States are committed to putting an end to illegal migration and strengthening border security. Starting with two flights today,” the US State Department said.

On Instagram, Guatemalan vice president Karin Herrera’s office posted a video of a military plane landing in Guatemala.

A caption said: “The [Guatemalan government] remains committed to protecting the integrity of migrants. The vice presidency will continue to verify that the reception of the returnees is in a dignified and safe manner.”

Some 79 Guatemalans returned, all of whom were adults, including 31 women and 48 men, the Guatemalan Migration Institute wrote.

The Pentagon has said the US military would provide flights for the deportations of more than 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.

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On his first day in the Oval Office, Mr Trump declared illegal immigration a national emergency, and tasked his military with helping to boost security at the Mexico border.

The president has promised the biggest deportation operation in US history, with his new border czar, Tom Homan, saying he’ll target “the worst, first”.

His executive order on 20 January told the Pentagon to send as many troops as needed to obtain “complete operational control of the southern border of the United States”.

‘Hundreds of US soldiers to Mexican border’

The Trump administration said earlier this week the US military would be sending 1,500 additional active-duty troops to the Mexican border. A second tranche of troops could be deployed as soon as next week.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people have been arrested across the US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in places such as Buffalo, New York, Chicago, St Paul, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Denver.

‘Daily ICE arrests almost double’

Of the 538 arrests on Thursday, 373 were for criminal allegations and 165 were for non-criminal reasons.

According to the most recent data, the 538 figure was almost double ICE’s daily average of 282 in September 2024.

The Trump administration has said its priority is to arrest migrants with criminal backgrounds. The Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday it would allow ICE to arrest undocumented people at places such as schools and churches, which was barred under previous administrations.

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the department said.

Many of the ICE actions were not unusual. Similar deportation flights also took place under the Biden administration, though not using military planes.

NBC News reports that New Jersey officials and immigrant rights supporters have criticised federal immigration authorities for carrying out a workplace raid on a small business in the city of Newark without a warrant.

In a news conference, Mayor Ras Baraka said several agents with ICE entered the back of the business, arrested three undocumented workers, and detained and questioned employees who are US citizens.

“People were fingerprinted. Pictures of their IDs and faces were taken there,” the Democrat mayor said. “I was appalled, upset, angry that this would happen here in this state, in this country, that this would be allowed.”

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial choice for US defence secretary, has been confirmed for the job.

The 44-year-old ex-veteran and former Fox News host narrowly secured the top Pentagon post with vice president JD Vance casting the 51-50 tie-breaking vote.

Three Republican senators – Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – joined Democrats to oppose his nomination.

It is the second time in history a vice president has broken a tie for a cabinet nominee. In 2017, then vice president Mike Pence was called in to break a tie to confirm Mr Trump’s previous pick of Betsy DeVos as education secretary.

Mr Trump praised Mr Hegseth shortly after the vote, saying he would make a “great secretary of defence” in a post on Truth Social.

However, during the confirmation hearing, which was disrupted by three protesters, Mr Hegseth was accused of lacking the competence for the job.

Hours before the vote, Democrat after Democrat took to the Senate floor to object.

Senator Chris Murphy said during the debate there are few Trump nominees as “dangerously and woefully unqualified as Hegseth”.

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Mr Hegseth is the most divisive candidate to clinch the US military’s top job.

He is a controversial choice because of past statements and actions, including allegations of sexual assault – which he has denied – excessive drinking, and derisive views about women in military combat roles.

But most Senate Republicans fell into line to defend Mr Hegseth.

Senate majority leader John Thune said Mr Hegseth, as a veteran of the Army National Guard who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, “will bring a warrior’s perspective” to the post.

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the armed services committee, however, said in a statement he would watch the new defence secretary “like a hawk” and “demand accountability”.

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Mr Hegseth steps into the role as the new Trump administration has said border security and immigration will be a focus for the US military.

Little is known about his views on key foreign policy issues such as arming Ukraine, preparing the US military for a potential conflict with China, and whether he would seek to scale back the country’s footprint in places including Syria and Iraq.

Former president Joe Biden’s defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, was confirmed by a 93-2 vote in 2021, and Jim Mattis, Mr Trump’s first defence secretary in his last administration, was confirmed by a 98-1 vote in 2017.

A US mother charged with murdering two of her young children has lost her fight to avoid extradition from the UK.

Kimberlee Singler’s nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son were found dead in a residential property in Colorado after being shot in the head and stabbed in the neck on 19 December 2023, police said.

Singler’s 11-year-old daughter was also at the scene with an injury after she was slashed with a knife, officers added.

Prosecutors allege the 36-year-old carried out the attacks in Colorado Springs amid a protracted custody battle with her ex-partner.

Despite initially co-operating with the investigation, Singler reportedly disappeared on 23 December 2023 and a warrant was issued for her arrest on murder charges.

She was arrested by the National Crime Agency in Kensington, west London, on 30 December 2023 and appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on New Year’s Day facing extradition to the United States.

She has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of assault.

Singler’s lawyer had argued that sending her back to the US would violate European human rights law, in part, because she faces a sentence of life in prison without parole in Colorado if convicted of first-degree murder.

Such a sentence would be inhumane because it offers no prospect for release even if she is rehabilitated, lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said.

District Judge John Zani rejected the challenge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.

Singler, wearing a teal jumper and jogging bottoms, was remanded into custody

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will now decide whether she is to be extradited to the US.

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