Avelo Announces They Will Halt All Deportation Flights
Statement from Side With Love –
“Thanks to the work of tireless organizing around the country—actions, boycotts, local resolutions, and so much more—we have WON. Avelo Airlines has announced they will be stopping their work with ICE. But on the same day, ICE murdered a civilian in Minnesota. A mother who was lawfully observing the agents, a constitutionally protected act of community defense.
And as we watch ICE break national laws and constitutional rights, and witness Trump’s brazen disregard for international law by kidnapping a head of state and threatening others, we are grounded in our reality: WE are the ones who must hold ICE, any corporation complicit in their horrific regime, and our political representatives accountable. We must continue to protect us, and we must continue to take action together.
On Thursday, January 15 at 8pm ET, please join our call to talk about what we did, and what we’ll do next to take on Avelo and build immigration defense strategies, groups, and power in our communities.” Register here
Background – The Stop Avelo campaign was launched in 2025 by local groups across the country to oppose Avelo Airlines’ $150 million contract with ICE to operate deportation flights. Avelo is complicit in deportation operations in which countless people are removed without due process or a guarantee of basic rights.
Avelo deportation flights have been criticized by the airline’s own flight attendants and pilots for inhumane conditions, including people being shackled and held in degrading conditions for hours at a time. UU Justice NC was proud to partner with Defend & Recruit, and the UUA’s Side With Love team on Friday Action Hours calling on Avelo to cancel their ICE contracts. Additionally, Unitarian Universalists across North Carolina took direct actions at airport in Wilmington, Charlotte and Greenville, SC!