The Trump administration has reportedly been placing Mexican nationals who have entered the country illegally on airplanes in Arizona and flying them back to Mexico, away from the border with the United States.

Since December, the Department of Homeland Security has been putting illegal immigrants and those who were ruled to be deportable by an immigration judge on flights from Tuscon, Arizona, and releasing them in Guadalajara, according to Fox News.

Federal immigration officials said the goal of the plan is to physically move migrants further away from the border in an attempt to curb the reflow of those individuals to the U.S. The Trump administration had previously been releasing illegal immigrants near the border with Mexico.

“This is another example of the Trump administration working with the Government of Mexico to address the ongoing border security crisis,” a DHS spokeswoman told the network. “Mexico has been a great partner in stopping illegal migration before they reach our border and in standing up the Migrant Protection Protocol, which has allowed us to provide court dates to more than 55,000 individuals.”

President Trump has made putting a virtual end to illegal immigration a hallmark of his policy platform as president. He ended President Barack Obama's "catch and release" program, an initiative widely criticized by immigration hard-liners.

While running for president in 2016, Trump vowed to "build a wall" along the southern border. No such new wall has been built three years into his presidency, but a recent ruling from a federal court has given his administration the green light on using $3.6 billion in military construction funds for border security enhancement projects in Texas.

The idea of a border wall remains immensely unpopular among Mexican nationals. Immigration rights activists often slam Trump's policies as cruel and inhumane. Images of children locked in cages last year at immigration detention facilities sparked international outrage.

"The cages for kids were built by the Obama Administration in 2014," Trump dismissed the outrage over the summer.



The cages for kids were built by the Obama Administration in 2014. He had the policy of child separation. I ended it even as I realized that more families would then come to the Border! @CNN — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2019



More than a year ago, the federal government shut down for over a month as Trump fought with congressional Democrats over funding for border security.