Fifa flies Portugal’s World Cup team on plane used for ICE deportations

Aircraft that transported team to match is same one used to deport dozens of Venezuelans to Cecot mega-prison

ew en route to semifinal match is also one of ICE’s most used deportation planes

A plane used by the Portugal men’s soccer team to fly to a World Cup match is the same one used daily for the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, and brought dozens of Venezuelans to a Salvadoran mega-prison last year against a judge’s orders.

Video shows Portugal flying on a Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX) aircraft en route to Dallas on 4 July ahead of their match against Spain, with the plane’s tail number, N837VA, clearly visible. A review of flight records for that Airbus shows it flew removal-related flights both the day before and after flying the Portuguese athletes.