@couriernewsroom: The Trump administration is considering using ships to deport immigrants to countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela. Officials have identified possible vessels, including the Golden Bear, a retired maritime academy training ship docked in California, and the Pentagon has reached out to companies about ships in Europe. Each trip could cost millions of dollars, far more than deportation flights. It’s unclear whether people would be detained for the entire journey, where they would sleep, or whether destination countries would even agree. A former top ICE official put it plainly: what the agency is “functionally contemplating is prison ships.” DHS says the plan is still hypothetical and no decisions have been made. But it echoes the 1950s mass deportation campaign known by a slur, Operation Wetback, which included expulsions by sea. In 1956, 40 passengers jumped from one ship near Tampico, Mexico, and five drowned. Mexico shut the operation down weeks later.

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Thursday 08 October 2026 20:02:26 GMT