Sabrina Thaler, Contributing Photographer

Among the spectators at the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race on Monday were a group of activists encouraging race participants to “run from Avelo” on their way to the finish line.

Beginning in April, organizers circulated a petition and hosted multiple protests at Tweed New Haven Airport against the airline after it began a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in April to carry out flights for President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push. Since then, the campaign has extended to include community outreach efforts at events like Monday’s race, as well as efforts to shame local organizations for ties with the airline.

On Monday, a group of volunteers from the New Haven Immigrants Coalition distributed hand-drawn “Boycott Avelo” bibs, waved signs along the route and ran an information booth on the New Haven Green.

“Avelo used to call itself New Haven’s hometown airline,” Anne Watkins, an organizer with the coalition, said at the race. “We have friends and neighbors who have been directly impacted by deportation and detention. We don’t want a company that is profiting directly off of those activities to be here in New Haven.”

The organizers also distributed red cards to passersby, which offered scripts to read to assert their rights in case a federal agent asks them to prove their citizenship, enter their home or search their belongings.

Avelo is the leading airline at Tweed New Haven Airport, from which it operates flights to 21 locations. In New Haven, activists and city officials have criticized the airline’s ICE contract as an affront to the city’s liberal values.

A coalition of local activist groups — New Haven Immigrants Coalition, Unidad Latina en Acción, CT Shoreline Indivisible and Connecticut Students for a Dream, among others — continued their work throughout the summer on the campaign to boycott Avelo.

Last week, the coalition launched a petition urging Yale’s athletics program to cut its presumed ties with the airline, including a 2022 partnership to feature Avelo advertisements at Yale sports games.

A Yale spokesperson wrote in a statement to the News that the University’s sponsorship deal with Avelo has expired. 

Leslie Blatteau, the president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, joined the demonstration at Monday’s race. Blatteau said she wants to put a stop to the “fear and chaos” she said the Trump administration has instilled in the community.

“We as a teachers’ union believe that we should not put profits over people and that we should not engage in cooperation with a business that is separating families,” she said. “We want our students and families to feel safe to come to school every day.”

In July, the Faxon Law New Haven Road Race’s director announced that it would end its partnership with Avelo, a leading sponsor in recent years, as a result of the ICE contract. 

This year, Breeze Airways — the only other airline operating at Tweed, and the competitor Avelo  partially blamed for declining revenue in New Haven — joined the race’s list of partners.

Breeze Airways and Avelo did not immediately reply to the News’ requests for comment.

Avelo Airlines is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Liza Kaufman contributed reporting.