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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Sophie Sullivan

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

soccer players stand on a field
Cristiano Ronaldo and Bernardo Silva during the Portugal-Spain match in Dallas on 6 July. Photograph: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images

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.

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