ICE aircraft abruptly closes Arizona runway after trying to depart with fuel issues

An aircraft used for President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda leaked fuel onto the runway at the Mesa Gateway Airport, temporarily closing it, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement pilot told air traffic controllers that his plane’s fuel gauge wasn’t working, according to audio reviewed by the Arizona Mirror.“Can you send the trucks? We have a fuel leak, again,” the pilot told ground control at the airport Friday.Mesa Gateway Airport is home to the Arizona Removal Operations Coordination Center, or AROCC for short, a 25,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2010 to little fanfare and can house up to 157 detainees and 79 employees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to an ICE press release from 2010.It is also the operational hub of “ICE Air,” has been the site of severe overcrowding, and has also been a frequent departure point for flights that have sent immigrants to African countries they’ve never...