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🇳🇮 Nicaragua /Sports

France Soccer Team Flew on Deportation Flight from Nicaragua

From Confidencial · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • The French national soccer team traveled to a recent World Cup match on a plane previously used for deporting Nicaraguan migrants.
  • The aircraft, operated by Global X, had transported deportees from Texas to Managua the day before.
  • This practice highlights the complex and sometimes controversial use of charter airlines by immigration authorities.

The French national soccer team recently traveled to a World Cup 2026 match in Boston and then Dallas aboard an aircraft that had served a different, more somber purpose just days prior: deporting migrants to Nicaragua. The flight, operated by Global X, was chartered by Classic Air Charters, a company with contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to reports, the Airbus A320 carrying the French team had transported a group of Nicaraguan migrants from an ICE deportation center in Harlingen, Texas, to Managua, Nicaragua, on July 11, 2026. Approximately 15 hours after landing in Boston for the team's semifinal match, the plane departed for Dallas with the French squad on board.

This revelation follows earlier reporting by The Guardian, which exposed that the French team had flown with an airline involved in deporting migrants under the Trump administration's program. Investigations indicated that the specific aircraft used by the French team had completed 44 deportation-related flights in the current year alone and approximately 950 since 2022. During the Trump administration's second term, this particular plane reportedly conducted 323 ICE flights.

Experts note that it is common for charter airlines to alternate between operating ICE flights and other private charters, including those for sports teams, sometimes within the same week or even on the same day. Human rights advocates have documented harsh conditions on these deportation flights, including the use of restraints and the transport of individuals to countries where they have no ties or which are experiencing conflict. Data from ICE Flight Monitor shows a significant increase in flights to Nicaragua in 2026, with 51 flights recorded by May, more than double the total for the previous year.

it is common that certain airlines alternate between operating flights of ICE and other charter flights of private entities, including sports teams, within a week or even the same day.

— Sierra RandolphSierra Randolph, data administrator for ICE Flight Monitor, explained to The Guardian the common practice of airlines servicing both immigration enforcement and private charters.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Confidencial in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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