Brazil to demand explanations on 'degrading treatment' of deportees

By Luciana Magalhaes

Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to seek explanations from the U.S. government over the "degrading treatment" of Brazilians on a deportation flight, the ministry wrote on X on Saturday night.

Last Friday, Brazilian deportees from the U.S. arrived in Brazil in handcuffs. Upon arrival, some of the passengers also reported mistreatment during the flight, according to local reports.

The plane, carrying 88 Brazilian passengers, 16 U.S. security agents, and eight crew members, was originally scheduled to arrive in Belo Horizonte in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. However, it made an unscheduled stop in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas, due to technical problems, according to Brazil's Justice Ministry.

There, Brazilian officials ordered the removal of the handcuffs, and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva designated a Brazilian Air Force (FAB) flight to complete their journey, the government said in a statement Saturday.

The flight was the second this year from the U.S. carrying undocumented migrants deported back to Brazil and the first since U.S. President Donald Trump's inauguration, according to Brazil's federal police.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contacted late on Saturday for comment did not immediately reply.