Green card holder Maher Awad deported on private jet to West Bank, leaving newborn son in Michigan
Feb 5, 2026·Location: Phoenix, AZ
Country of origin: Palestine

ICE chartered a private Gulfstream IV jet owned by Florida property developer Gil Dezer, a Trump associate and donor, to deport Palestinian men from the United States to the West Bank. At least two deportation flights occurred on January 20-21 and February 1-2, 2026, transporting eight or more detainees from an Arizona detention facility through multiple countries (New Jersey, Ireland, Bulgaria) before reaching Tel Aviv and the West Bank. Among those deported was 24-year-old Maher Awad, a long-term green card holder who had lived in the U.S. for nearly a decade and had a newborn son in Michigan. The men were shackled throughout the multi-country journey and reported being abandoned at checkpoints with minimal resources. A joint investigation by +972 Magazine and The Guardian documented the flights, with former U.S. officials and immigration lawyers characterizing them as indicative of a shift in Trump administration deportation policy toward more aggressive mass deportation tactics.
Timeline
Sources
- Revealed: Private jet owned by Trump friend used by ICE to deport Palestinians to West Bank
amp.theguardian.com·Feb 5, 2026·archived copy
- ‘Dumped at a checkpoint’: US exposed for secret deportation of Palestinians via Israeli billionaire’s jet
middleeastmonitor.com·Feb 6, 2026·archived copy
- From luxury jet to West Bank checkpoint: How ICE deported Palestinians on a Trump ally’s plane
ynetnews.com·Feb 8, 2026·archived copy
- amp.theguardian.com
- U.S. secretly deporting Palestinians to West Bank in coordination with Israel - Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
- U.S. Secretly Deporting Palestinians to West Bank in Coordination With Israel
- Palestinian Deportation Operation: Trump Admin Flights
jfeed.com·Feb 8, 2026·archived copy
- Secretly deporting Palestinians from the USA - Jewish Voice for Liberation
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