By Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian officers demanded that U.S. brokers take away handcuffs from a gaggle of deportees who have been flown to the South American nation on Friday, with a outstanding minister in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s authorities calling the observe “blatant disrespect” for the rights of his fellow residents.
Federal police, performing below the directions of Brazilian Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, met the flight after it made an surprising touchdown within the Amazonian metropolis of Manaus resulting from technical issues, the Brazilian authorities mentioned in an announcement on Saturday.
The aircraft, which was carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 U.S. safety brokers, and eight crew members, had been initially scheduled to reach in Belo Horizonte within the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, the assertion mentioned.
{The handcuffs} have been faraway from the passengers after the intervention of the Brazilian police, the federal government mentioned.
After he was knowledgeable of the incident, Lula ordered that the passengers be flown aboard a Brazilian Air Pressure aircraft to their ultimate vacation spot, making certain they may full their journey with “dignity and safety,” in accordance with a Brazilian Justice Ministry assertion.
The flight was the second this yr from the U.S. carrying undocumented migrants who had been deported again to Brazil and the primary since U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, in accordance with Brazil’s Justice Ministry and federal police.
The Trump administration has undertaken a sweeping immigration crackdown, with the Republican president vowing to make use of mass deportations to take away undocumented migrants within the U.S.
The usage of handcuffs and different restraints on migrants being deported on flights from the U.S. to Brazil has stirred controversy within the South American nation. Conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, additionally referred to as for a halt to the observe.
Officers of the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.