WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Friday said it continues to facilitate removal flights of single adults and family units to Caribbean countries.

ICE — a component agency of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), working in close coordination across the department, including with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — said that single adults and family units removal fights were made between October 28 and November 1.

Those included removal flights to Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico.

“If a noncitizen arrives and has no legal basis to remain in the United States, they are processed and removed quickly, consistent with US law,” ICE said.

Since the Presidential Proclamation and Interim Final Rule went into effect on June 5, through the end of September, ICE said DHS has removed or returned more than 160,000 individuals to more than 145 countries, not including repatriations of people encountered at airports or the northern border.

ICE said its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) has operated more than 495 international repatriation flights in that period, while DHS has tripled the percentage of southwest border encounters processed for expedited removal.

Overall, ICE said preliminary data show that DHS completed over 700,000 removals and returns in fiscal year 2024, more than any prior fiscal year since 2010.

That included more removals to countries other than Mexico than in any prior year ever, ICE said.

It said DHS has also reduced the time it takes to remove individuals who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States by more than half from its historical average.

In fiscal year 2023, ICE said ERO conducted 142,580 removals and 62,545 Title 42 expulsions to more than 170 countries.