Avelo Airlines has entered into a divisive agreement with US immigration authorities to operate deportation flights, leading to protests from coast to coast.
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Activists, legal organisations, and local communities are mobilising against the airline’s involvement in deportations.
This controversy highlights a broader reflection on the United States’ lengthy and bipartisan history of immigration enforcement.
Ultra-low-cost Alevo Airlines transports gamblers, Hillary Clinton, and now deportees.
Avelo Airlines began its journey in 1989 as Casino Express, primarily catering to gamblers. In 2005, it was rebranded as Xtra Airlines and provided air transportation for various ventures, including Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
In 2021, Andrew Levy, the current CEO and former CFO of United Airlines, acquired the airline, renamed it Avelo, and expanded its operations from charter flights to low-cost commercial services.
After launching its services in California on the Burbank-Santa Rosa route, Avelo established a hub at Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut.
The airline has since expanded its destination offerings, including a recent agreement to provide federal deportation flights from Arizona starting in May.
This “long-term charter” arrangement is with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and supports the budget airline, which is headquartered in Houston, TX.
The Harsh Realities of ICE Deportation Flights
Research conducted by the advocacy group Witness at the Border monitors ICE flights. Costly military deportation flights have largely been discontinued, and charter carriers like Avelo now handle the operations.
An exposé by ProPublica revealed alarming conditions on ICE deportation flights operated by a similar charter carrier, Globalx.
The report indicates that while flight attendants were trained on how to evacuate passengers, they were not instructed on how to assist detainees whose hands and legs were bound in shackles.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) “90-second” rule for fully evacuating an aircraft is impossible to implement when passengers are shackled.
On ICE Air flights, private security guards and an ICE officer are the only individuals permitted to interact with the deportees, including speaking with them. However, the only ones trained in emergency evacuations are the professional flight attendants, who are FAA certified.
If a plane were to crash on the runway, ProPublica warns that the protocol requires flight attendants to prioritise their safety and leave the aircraft, potentially abandoning the shackled passengers. Unfortunately, this distressing scenario is not just theoretical.
Snoopy’s airport
On April 26, protesters gathered at the entrance of what locals affectionately call Snoopy’s airport. The Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, named after the late cartoonist who lived in Sonoma County, serves as a hub for Avelo Airlines.
The protest, organized by the Democratic Party-aligned group Indivisible, addressed Avelo’s plan to operate deportation flights, labeling the event the “Profiting from Pain” protest.
One protester waved an upside-down U.S. flag, which signals “dire distress in instances of extreme danger,” according to the U.S. Flag Code.
A sign at the protest read: “Planes to El Salvador are just like trains to Auschwitz – a prison without due process is a concentration camp.”
“Boycott Avelo” was the message on a young woman’s sign, which urged that “travel should bring families together, not tear them apart.” An activist from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center distributed wallet-sized “red cards” at the demonstration.
She reported that nearly a thousand residents from Northern California have participated in recent training sessions to learn how to defend their friends and neighbors who, regardless of their immigration status, possess certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution.
The sign held by a young woman read, “Boycott Avelo,” and urged, “Travel should bring families together, not tear them apart.” An activist from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center distributed wallet-sized “red cards” during the demonstration.
She shared that nearly a thousand residents from Northern California have participated in training recently to help defend their friends and neighbors who, regardless of their immigration status, have rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution.
New Haven’s Exclusive No-Fly Zone
Blowback against the nativist anti-immigrant sentiment has also been evident in New Haven, Connecticut. This city, which serves as an Avelo Airlines hub, along with the state capital, Hartford, has been designated as a sanctuary city.
Additionally, Connecticut has implemented measures to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
These political stances reflect the demographics of urban Connecticut, which are now predominantly Latino and African American. According to Census Bureau terminology, non-Hispanic whites have become an urban minority.
According to Henry Lowendorf, a local organizer with the US Peace Council, the vast majority of people in New Haven are “adamantly opposed to the airline’s massive violations of human rights, which involve detaining individuals without a judicial process and effectively sending them to a concentration camp in El Salvador.
On April 17, over 200 individuals protested against Avelo Airlines for the second consecutive Tuesday, in response to a call from Unidad Latina en Acción, the Semilla Collective, and other organizations.
The protest, led by immigrant rights activists, featured speakers that included local and state officials, as well as US Senator Richard Blumenthal, who voiced his opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Avelo Airlines is currently benefiting from a state exemption from fuel taxes in Connecticut, which supports its hub operations in New Haven.
There is increasing pressure on Avelo to either cancel deportation flights or pay the fuel levy.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has demanded that Avelo confirm it will not conduct deportation flights from the state.
However, the airline has declined the Attorney General’s request to disclose its confidential contract with the Department of Homeland Security.
The Consistency of U.S. Deportation Policy
According to a report from The New York Times, despite the heated rhetoric surrounding the topic, deportations have not significantly increased under Trump.
He has implemented some new and unusual measures, such as deporting individuals to third countries far from their homeland and invoking the Alien Enemies Act from the eighteenth century.
The New York Times concludes that the number of deportations “falls short” of the anticipated mass exodus and, in fact, “looks largely similar” to what Joe Biden achieved.
Despite the dramatic claims and an initial rise in arrests, the rate of deportations under Trump has actually been slower than under Biden.
Barack Obama still holds the title of “deporter in chief,” having expelled 3.2 million individuals. Additionally, Joe Biden recorded the highest number of expulsions by a U.S. president in a single year, if we include removals under the Title 42 Covid-era public health provision (which are technically considered “expulsions” rather than “deportations”).
Looking ahead, it is likely that Donald Trump will attempt to surpass those records. Often overshadowed in mainstream discussions about migration is the reality that U.S. policies, such as sanctions, significantly contribute to the factors driving people to migrate to the United States.
This situation is occurring within the context of the largest immigration surge into the U.S. in history, surpassing the “great immigration boom” of the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Protests are expanding to more Avelo cities.
A petition with approximately 35,000 signatures is currently circulating, calling for an end to Avelo’s deportation flights.
The petition references a leaked memo indicating that Avelo’s decision to engage in deportation services was driven by financial motives to compensate for other losses.
Boycott Avelo protests have spread to various cities served by the airline, including Rochester, NY; Burbank, CA; Daytona Beach, FL; Eugene, OR; and Wilmington, DE. The campaign against Avelo is gaining momentum on local, regional, and national levels.
As a sign at the Boycott Avelo protest in Santa Rosa states: “Immigration makes America great!”
Roger D. Harris is with the human rights group Task Force on the Americas, founded in 1986.
Roger Harris serves on the board of the Task Force on the Americas, a 32-year-old anti-imperialist human rights organization.
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Andrew is a New York-based markets reporter at The Wall Street , covering the latest news from Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and updates on crypto markets. He is a graduate of New York University’s business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. He holds BTC and ETH.
