Eric Song, Contributing Photographer

After Avelo Airlines announced last week that it would partner with ICE to operate deportation flights from Arizona, the company has faced a deluge of backlash from New Haven, where the company reports a majority of its business.

On April 8, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong suggested that Avelo was freely choosing to “profit from” and facilitate “atrocities” that are “cruel by design,” in a letter addressed to Avelo CEO Andrew Levy. That same night, 28 of 30 New Haven alders signed a letter condemning Avelo’s decision to carry out deportation flights.

The following day, on Wednesday evening, over 60 residents protested the deportations at Tweed Airport. As of Monday night, a petition calling for an Avelo boycott had amassed over 32,000 signatures in one week.

“These cruel policies go against everything we stand for,” said John Lugo, executive director of Unidad Latina en Acción, an organization that attended the Wednesday protest. “[The policies] transport vulnerable people, including children and women, under inhumane, dangerous conditions out of the country, often without due process.”

Last Tuesday, Tong issued a series of questions to verify that Avelo will operate legal and humane flights, requesting a response from Levy by April 15.

Tong requested the company confirm that it will not operate deportation flights on which passengers are physically restrained without safe evacuation mechanisms, or for whom there is no valid order of removal. He made reference to a ProPublica investigation that revealed improper evacuation protocols and shackled passengers aboard ICE deportation flights.

“None of these abusive practices are required to secure our borders, promote public safety, or effectively enforce our immigration laws,” Tong wrote. “These flights are cruel by design and enormously wasteful of taxpayer resources, and no business should be complicit.”

He suggested that Connecticut’s continued support for the airline — including through its moratorium on aviation fuel taxes — would depend on its compliance with these demands.

Members of the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee said in an April 8 hearing that this could potentially be accomplished by way of modifying the Trust Act, a law that limits how state and local governments share information with ICE. The proposed modifications would additionally apply these restrictions to corporations, punishing companies in violation by revoking their contracts.

Additionally, 28 of the 30 alders of New Haven denounced the airline’s decision to operate deportation flights in a letter last Tuesday, condemning the decision as “profoundly out of step with the spirit and character of our city.” The letter urged Avelo to “unequivocally terminate any existing or planned contracts with DHS or ICE related to deportation operations.”

Of the two alders who did not sign the letter, Alder Gary Hogan said he is supportive of the letter’s contents and did not sign it due to a miscommunication. Alder Sal DeCola of Ward 18, a jurisdiction that includes parts of Tweed Airport, did not respond to requests for comment.

“We acknowledge the weight of these concerns and have received the feedback. We will be discussing these concerns with Connecticut leaders. We will have no further comment on the matter,” Avelo wrote to the News.

Carrying signs that read “New Haven won’t fly on fascist airlines” and “Bon voyage Avelo”,  dozens of members of Unidad Latina en Acción, Connecticut Climate Crisis Mobilization and Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible protested in front of Tweed Airport on Wednesday evening.

Organizers from the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, a group of local advocacy organizations, are planning a second protest at Tweed this Thursday and will give public comment at the HVN Airport Authority meeting this week.

“We know that people are being deported without due process,” Anne Watkins, an organizer with the coalition, told the News. “We know people are being deported to jails and other countries where the countries themselves are known for their human rights abuses. We know that there are deportations taking place for people who should have protected status in this country. I think people are responding to these horrific things that are happening.”

The protesters are just a fraction of those who have pledged to boycott Avelo. Tens of thousands of people nationwide have signed an online petition launched by the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, demanding that Avelo CEO Levy cancel the contract.

The petition, titled “We won’t fly Avelo until they stop ICE flights!” is currently one of the most popular petitions on Change.org. 

“It is truly amazing to see the outpouring of support across the nation,” wrote Tabitha Sookdeo,  executive director of CT Students for a Dream, a coalition member organization, to the News. “There is a swelling movement of community organizers in other states that want to participate. Across the nation, we hear a resounding call to treat immigrants with dignity.”

Avelo accounted for over 98 percent of passenger traffic at Tweed through 2024.