Chained migrants led onto deportation flight as Trump orders take hold

Chained and handcuffed migrants were led onto a deportation flight just days after Donald Trump was inaugurated as president, newly-released footage from the US Department of Defense purportedly shows.

Officials said agents guided a group onto a C-17 Globemaster III at Fort Bliss, Texas, on 23 January, in an operation jointly coordinated with US Customs and Border Protection.

Military aircraft began flying out migrants on orders from Donald Trump on Friday, 24 January, as the Pentagon prepared to send even more troops to the southern border.

On his first day in office, the US president declared illegal immigration a national emergency, tasking the military with aiding border security, issuing a broad ban on asylum, and taking steps to restrict citizenship for children born on US soil.