Aircraft linked to ICE operations lands in the Dominican Republic
An aircraft associated with the logistics operations of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made a stopover at the San Isidro Air Base on September 17, raising various questions about passenger movement in the current migratory context.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-300 identified by the call sign TYSON49, began its route in El Paso, Texas, making a technical stop at the Opa-locka Executive Airport, Florida, before undertaking its flight to Dominican territory. According to air tracking records, the aircraft landed in San Isidro at 4:04 in the afternoon, remaining in the country for one hour and 33 minutes before taking off again for Florida at 5:37 in the afternoon.
Context of the current migration agreement
This aerial movement has captured attention due to its coincidence with the memorandum of understanding signed between the Dominican Republic and the United States on May 12, 2026. Said agreement allows for the temporary and exceptional entry of a limited group of third-country citizens who are in transit.
Regarding this mechanism, the Dominican authorities have highlighted the following key points:
- Applications are evaluated individually on a case-by-case basis.
- Haitian citizens, unaccompanied minors, and individuals with criminal records are explicitly excluded.
- Financial and operational support for the process falls exclusively on the U.S. party.
- The stay of individuals in the country is strictly temporary, with the goal of facilitating their return to their countries of origin.
So far, there is no official confirmation directly linking flight TYSON49 to the execution of this memorandum, nor has it been possible to determine the number of people on board, their nationalities, or their immigration status after landing at the military base.
Although aeronautical data allows for tracking the flight path, the lack of official information regarding the cargo manifest maintains uncertainty about whether the transfer was related to repatriation processes or the new migration cooperation scheme between both nations.
