Amnesty International and Human Rights First published their first joint letter to Irish officials on Thursday, urging an end to the US administration’s use of Shannon Airport for unlawful Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removals. The two human rights organizations expressed concern over ICE’s use of Shannon Airport at least five times, involving the removal of at least 28 people. The flights involved forced third-country transfers of individuals to countries where they have no ties and often face abuse, such as South Sudan and Eswatini.

Director of Amnesty International Ireland, Stephen Bowen, sharply condemned both the Irish minister for transport and the Irish minister for foreign affairs and trade, stating that Ireland has control over how its airspace is used and that it must stop being complicit in the US’s “cruel and extreme mass immigration detention and removal machine.” Bowen lamented:

People across Ireland and the world look on in horror as the Trump administration continues implementing its vile, racist and xenophobic executive orders that dehumanize and criminalize people who are, or are perceived to be, migrants and refugees. The administration has brazenly violated the right to due process by unlawfully removing people and subjecting some to enforced disappearance.

In their letter originally dated March 12, Amnesty and Human Rights First outlined in detail instances of five flights wherein individuals were arbitrarily removed to a country to which they had no connection and where they often faced prolonged detention. For instance, six men in South Sudan have been detained for more than eight months.

The letter requested that Irish departments provide information regarding the scope of Irish officials’ knowledge of the US government’s use of Irish airspace for unlawful ICE removals and on what measures the government plans to take to curtail this use.

This is part of a broader issue being tracked by ICE Flight Monitor, a Human Rights First project that documents ICE flights. In March 2026 alone, the organization saw removal flights to 46 countries as part of the Trump administration’s escalating mass deportation campaign, marking a 23 percent increase from the 183 flights in February and a 48 percent increase in removal destinations from the previous month.