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Mexican authorities denied a US military plane access to its planned runway on Thursday after President Trump's deportation crackdown began.
US officials told NBC News that a jet filled with illegal immigrants bound for Mexico never took off after authorities south of the border blocked the move.
The flight was one of three that took off on Thursday, alongside Two Guatemala-bound Air Force C-17s carrying over 150 people, as part of what Trump has described as the largest mass deportation effort in US history.
Deporting migrants to foreign countries requires permission from the incoming nation's government, which Mexico declined on Thursday.
It is not clear why Mexican authorities made the move to block the flight, which came hours after an American hiker was also shot by suspected Mexican cartel members in California a few hundred yards north of the border.
Trump's return to the White House quickly inflamed relations between the two nations, with the new president threatening imposing a 25 percent tariff on Mexican imports in retaliation for migrants crossing the southern border.
Mexican authorities blocked a US military plane from taking off for a deportation flight Thursday. The flight was one of three planned, with two others set for Guatemala (pictured) arriving late in the day
The surprise move from Mexico came as President Trump's deportation crackdown began
English (US)