Wilmington Protests Rise Against Avelo’s Deportation Flights

Community organizations like the Immigrants Companions Group, United Wilmington, and Wilmington’s Democratic Socialists United staged demonstrations all along the path to Wrightsville Beach, urging holidaymakers to ‘cast flights that mirror their conscience.’ The organizers decided on this location with the intention of informing the largest number of journeyers about a partnership Avelo had established earlier with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to execute deportation flights.

One of the event leaders noted, ‘County resources have been allocated to Avelo for the purposes of marketing Wilmington and various other places in an effort to draw in vacationers. We are committed to ensuring that travellers make conscience-based decisions, realizing that while the flight may be a budget-friendly option, the humanitarian implications may be costly.’ Avelo Airlines is an economical transport provider, offering services in 23 states.

In April of this year, the airline put into operation a new base in Wilmington. This move triggered protests across the town. The initial demonstration against Avelo took place right in front of the airport in May, but the national campaign kickstarted this week under the joint organization, aiming to ‘apply commercial stress’ on the airline following the deal.

As per a participant in the protest, ‘The campaign has now gone national, hence we are partaking in a national demonstration today. This is taking place across the country in multiple cities where Avelo operates.’ An attendee elucidated, ‘Avelo Airlines operates commercially; they are the sole commercial airline that has an agreement with ICE. They schedule deportation flights from Arizona to El Salvador. So, our objective is to convince people to boycott them.’

While the topic of immigration lacks uniform consensus, and it’s challenging to sway people’s stance on it, supporters both locally and at the national level are hoping travellers might consider opting for a different airline. ‘And, from the looks of it, our efforts are yielding results,’ a participant pointed out. ‘Just a few weeks back, Avelo discontinued some of its flights, reduced some of its routes, not here in Wilmington, but in other parts of the country.’ The objective of these local initiatives is to drive progressive shifts in this area.

Avelo, in defense of its choice to collaborate with ICE, cited the necessity for financial viability. A representative from the direction board of one of the supporting groups submitted a request for public records to the New Hanover County Airport Authority. After several weeks, the Deputy Director of the Airport informed them that the Airport Authority hadn’t assigned any funding to Avelo, nor had any budget alterations been made for Avelo’s cause.

The deputy director provided a copy of the lease agreement that Avelo signed which he stated is a ‘universal agreement for all airlines operating out of ILM,’ and included an outline of the authority’s incentive program – a program accessible to all airlines. Although, a series of emails later confirmed that local marketing resources have been used to promote both Avelo’s operations and the ILM Airport since Avelo’s inception.

Since the initiation of its operations, Avelo has significantly influenced the local economy. One of the protestors brought up the dilemma, ‘[It’s] difficult to reconcile with data that reveals tourist expenditure in New Hanover County reached $1.1 billion in 2023. The annual GDP of the county was less than $20 billion in the last fiscal year, so it seems highly unlikely that Avelo can be fully credited for such a large economic boost.’

He further emphasized, ‘This, however, avoids the main ethical issue at hand. Are we ready to ignore Avelo’s involvement in unauthorized and cruel deportation flights simply because we gain from their other operations? How much worth are we assigning to our moralities if we’re consenting to the continuation of these deportation flights?’