Brockell's method for tracking ICE flights

TLDR

• GIJN interview: Brockell tracks ICE flights by pairing ADS-B Exchange, which shows tail numbers, with FlightRadar24 for coverage.¹
• She says ADS-B Exchange has dead zones, particularly in Africa, and FlightRadar24 hides tail numbers of LADD-designated aircraft.¹
• ICE Air runs about 50 to 90 flights a day, she says; GIJN cites an average of 70.¹²

The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) published an interview on 21 October with independent reporter Gillian Brockell on how she tracks US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) flights, including removals to third countries, using public flight-tracking tools.¹

Why it matters: the method answers a practical problem for flight-tracking investigators. Brockell says an aircraft owner can apply to the FAA for a LADD designation that hides the tail number and call sign from apps fed by government-owned receivers, and that ICE charter airlines have received it. ADS-B Exchange does not block registration numbers, but she says it has coverage gaps, so she runs it alongside FlightRadar24.¹

Driving the news:

• Brockell identifies the tail numbers of ICE-chartered aircraft, checks their movements daily, interviews removed people through families and lawyers, and follows the contracts and brokers.¹
• She says she uses ADS-B Exchange Premium and FlightRadar24 Gold. On ADS-B Exchange she suggests searching by call sign, aircraft type or LADD status, for example "GLF5" for the Gulfstream V jets she says are regularly used on West Africa routes.¹
• She finds fleet tail numbers on airline websites and on Planespotters.net, and points reporters to the Habeas Flight Watch live map, which she says has a predictive flight schedule, and to HabeasDockets.org for federal habeas petitions.¹
• She says a daily check of about 100 registration numbers took her 45 minutes, and she now focuses on about 10 planes known to have done third-country removals.¹

By the numbers:

• About 50 to 90 ICE flights a day, per her primer; GIJN cites an average of 70.¹²
• Removals are only about a quarter of ICE Air flights, per the primer.²

The big picture: she says she began in May 2025 by tracking a flight to South Sudan out of curiosity, working from her experience as a former flight attendant.¹ The primer, first published on 28 January and last updated on 13 June 2026, is her reference for reporters.²

The other side: Brockell says she is not the first to track these flights and credits activists and an ex-military tracker, and GIJN notes Forbidden Stories has published a deportation map.¹

Single-source note: the method is described by Brockell herself, in a GIJN interview and her own self-published primer. The tools and the LADD claims have not been independently tested.¹²