Video shows ICE preparing illegal immigrants to be flown out of Seattle airport

Newly released video shows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Seattle, Washington, preparing a group of illegal, undocumented immigrants to be flown back to their home countries.

ICE Air Operations (IAO) is the air transportation for ICE, which facilitates the transfer and removal of illegal aliens through commercial airlines and chartered flights.

IAO recently flew a group of undocumented aliens back to their home countries from Seattle, and ICE Seattle shared video of the ordeal.

The video begins with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents standing on the tarmac of the airport, as other agents pull chains attached to handcuffs out of a plastic crate.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’

The video also shows several illegal immigrants getting chained together and handcuffed before being boarded onto the plane.

In a post on X, ICE Seattle said the undocumented aliens are flown out of Seattle as part of a process to return them to their home countries. The video does not make it clear where the undocumented immigrants are being flown.

According to Department of Homeland Security data, obtained by Fox News Digital, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan 20 to Feb 8., compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That’s a 137% increase.

TRUMP’S ICE LIMITS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASES AMID MOVES TO SHAKE OFF BIDEN ‘HANGOVER’ 

Arrests of aliens with criminal histories have soared by nearly 100% from 4,526 in the same period in 2024 to 8,993 under Trump this year. 

Arrests of fugitive aliens at-large, meanwhile, have gone up from 2,164 to 5,538 – a 156% increase. Arrests of criminal aliens in local jails have gone up 59%.

TRUMP DOJ SLAPS ILLINOIS, CHICAGO WITH LAWSUIT OVER SANCTUARY LAWS 

The data is the latest sign that the Trump administration’s flat-out push to ramp up arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants, including by loosening the cuffs on ICE agents imposed by the prior administration, is having a significant impact.

The administration has said it is trying to target the “worst of the worst,” focusing on criminal illegal immigrants and gang members, but has also stressed that it is not ruling anyone out of contention.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The administration is using Guantánamo Bay to house up to 30,000 detainees, with multiple flights leaving last week. Meanwhile, the DOJ has announced legal action against New York and Chicago over sanctuary laws in place there.

Those moves came after a slew of moves in the first days of the administration. President Donald Trump signed orders declaring a national emergency at the border, restarting border wall construction and terminating Biden-era parole policies. The Department of Homeland Security has since removed limits on “sensitive places” placed upon agents by the Biden administration, and has ended Temporary Protected Status for some Venezuelan nationals.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.