ICE Ramps Up Deportation Flights from Hanscom Field
October 10, 2025
Since September 5, ICE has been running near-daily deportation flights out of Hanscom Field in Lincoln, using one Boeing 737 most afternoons between 2 and 4 p.m. The charter company Global X operates many of the flights, which are fueled and serviced by Signature Aviation — an ICE contractor at 17 of the 27 U.S. airports used for deportation flights.
Vans deliver detainees from across New England, including from Burlington’s illegal overnight detention site, where holding people violates town ordinances. At Hanscom, detainees are searched, shackled, and loaded directly onto planes out of public view. Planes have been seen refueling with detainees still chained on board.
Aside from these ICE flights, Hanscom sees almost no 737 departures. Advocates estimate about 1,000 people were deported from Hanscom between January and May this year, and the current pace could exceed 500 people per month.
Immigrant rights groups say ICE’s flight system deliberately isolates detainees from families, lawyers, and support networks — a tactic meant to intimidate immigrants and undermine due process. Many of the detained have fully complied with all government requests and are pursuing legal avenues set forth by law.
