The Repatriation flight program, officially named "Interior Repatriation Program", was a United States and Mexico government program destined to fly back Mexican citizens who had illegally crossed the frontier between the United States and Mexico to their home country for free. The program was funded by Arizona taxpayers. It ran from July 12 to September 30 of 2004. It was a pilot program; other American states were planning to develop similar programs. The total number of Mexicans repatriated was over 14,000. According to

United States Border Patrol The United States Border Patrol (USBP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Customs and Border Protection and is responsible for securing ...

officials, the program was created to help save lives of those that crossed the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. They would usually be caught by border patrol police in southern Arizona towns or near the

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

border, processed, and taken to Tucson International Airport for their flights back home. Airplanes used in these operations were all Boeing 757 jets. The program was ultimately stopped because of cost: tax-payers ended up paying US $15 million during the three-month trial period, amounting to US $1,000 for each passenger. According to the border patrol police, the program helped the number of

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

deaths around the Tucson area drop by 28 percent, but statistics showed that Arizona had a record number of immigrant deaths in 2004, with 171 dead persons accounted for. Immigrants caught and flown back to Mexico would usually be taken back to

Guadalajara, Jalisco Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...

, or into

Benito Juarez International Airport Mexico City International Airport ( es, link=yes, Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México, AICM); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez'' (Benito Juárez International Airport) is the main international airport serving ...

in Mexico City. Despite the conditions of travelling by foot from Mexico to the United States and treatment by coyotes, a survey run at Mexico's largest international airport by a North American newspaper showed that 50 percent of those returned to Mexico by air would be willing to try to return to the United States illegally again.

References

{{reflist Forced migrations in the United States History of Arizona History of immigration to the United States