Avelo Airlines, a budget carrier that services 55 cities across 23 states, and opened a new operating base in Wilmington last month, has faced backlash from customers after striking a deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Related: Sunday Edition: Hello, Avelo
Starting May 12, the airline will transport detained migrants to ICE detention centers and conduct removal flights out of the states. Facing public pushback, the ultra-low-cost airline said the federal contracts were necessary to help support its bottom line and maintain low fares.
The local chapter of Immigrant Allies Forum, protested the airline’s decision to help carry out the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration policies.
This week, the group held a protest at Wilmington International Airport. Organizer Wesley Magruder hopes it could lead to weekly events.
“Hopefully this is the beginning, the beginning of a campaign to try to persuade Avelo airlines to stop working with the administration,” he said.
Magruder has also worked as the director of Church World Services office in Wilmington, which had worked to resettled hundreds of refugees until the Trump Administration abruptly cut their funding. He said other protests have been happening at Avelo bases in Connecticut and Delaware.
Dr. Katie Randall, who works for a refugee resettlement agency and ran for state senate last year, said the airline company needs to read the room.
“Like we've been saying in our protests, cheaper flights aren't worth the price of human lives, especially when we've seen so many deportations without due process. We need Avelo to read the room here. This is not what we want. This is not what the American people want,” she said.
Magruder said he’ll be planning with organizers in other states, and that the group will be a part of a larger protest planned for May 31.
