Earlier this month, Avelo Airlines announced that it would no longer be doing deportation flights for ICE. The budget airline faced scrutiny when it entered into a contract with the federal agency last spring.
Avelo was the only ICE subcontractor also offering commercial tickets to travelers.
ICE has for years contracted with companies to carry out a scaled-up deportation process that involves flights from U.S. cities to various other countries. The advocacy group Human Rights First has been tracking the agency’s use of military planes, commercial carriers, and other contractors for the last several months.
Their latest report finds Avelo operated nearly one in five ICE flights between May and December — more than 1,900 flights, all told. The vast majority were domestic transfers between detention centers — and most were operated out of Mesa gateway airport. Other charters were deportation flights to Mexico, Honduras and other countries.
The report shows Avelo began scaling back its ICE flights starting in November — a few months ahead of announcing it would be closing its Arizona base for that work on Jan. 28. An Avelo spokesperson told KJZZ the contract did not consistently deliver enough revenue to overcome operational costs.
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Researchers used bystander video and news reports to put together a database of incidents where pepper spray, rubber bullets and other measures were used by law enforcement — resulting in injuries ranging from cuts and burns, to traumatic brain injuries. -
A congressionally approved federal program has for years provided funding for a handful of legal groups representing immigrant kids in Arizona and elsewhere. The Trump administration moved to end the program last spring. -
Arizona Democrats are demanding answers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after several cases of measles were confirmed among people in ICE custody in the state. -
The Kino Border Initiative and Loyola University Chicago School of Law filed a report to the United Nations, arguing conditions at U.S. immigration detention centers violate international human rights standards — including those prohibiting torture. -
Top Republican Arizona state lawmakers are lining up with the Department of Homeland Security — and against the Tohono O'odham Nation — over whether the federal agency can build 62 miles of border wall through that reservation.
