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Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Anne Bridgman’s name and of Avelo Out of EUG.
Protests are planned at ten U.S. airports on and around Thanksgiving weekend against Avelo Airlines, a budget commercial airline operating deportation flights through a $150 million contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“No Thanks Given” protests are expected on November 29 or 30 for airports in Mesa, Arizona; Charlotte, North Carolina; Wilmington, North Carolina; Albany, New York; Lakeland, Florida; and other cities, as well as at the University of Delaware in Newark. There were protests the weekend before Thanksgiving at airports in Mesa; Wilmington, Delaware; and Manchester, New Hampshire.
No Thanks Given is organized by The Coalition to Stop Avelo, a national coalition that includes Side With Love, the organizing strategy team of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
“The hope is to have more folks know that Avelo is doing horrible things. Who sat in your seat last? Were they shackled? Could they have gotten off the plane if there was an emergency, and do you really want to be sitting in that seat?”
The coalition is demanding that Avelo cancel its ICE contract, said Rev. Cathy Rion Starr, who coordinates leadership development with the Side With Love Action Center. By protesting during the Thanksgiving holidays, the busiest travel time of the year, they seek to inform travelers about Avelo’s ICE contract and persuade them to boycott the airline.
“We want to raise awareness, put more pressure on Avelo, and get more folks to join the boycott,” said Rion Starr. Some protests are timed to coincide with the departure of an Avelo flight at one airport, with another protest at the arrivals airport, they said, adding, “The hope is to have more folks know that Avelo is doing horrible things. Who sat in your seat last? Were they shackled? Could they have gotten off the plane if there was an emergency, and do you really want to be sitting in that seat?”
When UU World reached out, Avelo Airlines Communications Manager Courtney Goff responded: “We recognize the right of individuals to peacefully assemble. Avelo’s main priority continues to be maintaining the safety and timeliness of our operation that over 8.3 million customers across the country continue to enjoy. We have not noticed any major decline in passenger traffic this year, we’re seeing more bookings come in as travelers appreciate the product they are offered—nonstop, convenient, and affordable air travel.”
Protests against Avelo, which detractors have nicknamed “ICE Air,” began last spring in a number of locations after it signed the contract to provide deportation flights for ICE, including flying people out of the United States to El Salvador and elsewhere, said Joel Barrio, lead organizer of the Wilmington-Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter’s Avelo Boycott Working Group.
Avelo operated nearly 20 percent of ICE deportation flights in August, according to Travel and Tour World, which is among many media outlets that have covered the Avelo protests and boycott. Avelo is the only commercial airline contracting with ICE, Barrio said.
The Thanksgiving action is part of a larger strategy against Avelo, which includes petitioning local and state governmental groups and urging them to stop subsidies and other support for Avelo.
The Thanksgiving action is part of a larger strategy against Avelo, which includes petitioning local and state governmental groups and urging them to stop subsidies and other support for Avelo.
Side With Love became involved in the Avelo action through Siembra North Carolina, an immigrants’ rights group with multipronged resistance to ICE, including corporate boycotts, trainings for businesses about their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful searches, and acute migrant defense work, said Rion Starr.
On December 12, UU Justice Ministry of North Carolina (UUJNC) will focus its Friday Action Hour on Avelo, said Rev. Lisa Garcia-Sampson, UUJNC’s executive director. The weekly event is open to everyone and available on Zoom. UUJNC has a strong relationship with Siembra and many other partners in a network working on social justice issues in North Carolina, including migrant justice and resisting aggressive tactics by ICE.
And on January 12, Side With Love’s monthly online gathering for grounding and strategic discussion will focus on corporations with ICE contracts, including Avelo and AT&T, Rion Starr said.
Anne Bridgman, a member of the UU Church in Eugene, Oregon, helped organize a coalition, Avelo Out of EUG, which began protesting Avelo last spring at the Eugene airport and contacting local and state officials. In October, Avelo stopped all operations on the West Coast, including in Oregon, “which is what we were looking for,” Bridgman said.
According to at least one news report, Avelo officials said the move was a response to lack of demand and the need for aircraft in other locations.
Everyone involved in the Avelo protests is a volunteer, said Matthew Boulay, head of the national coalition.
“What’s amazing about these actions is they are all so local yet connected nationally,” he said.
“That’s really powerful,” said Rion Starr. “This is not something driven by a national campaign of organizers. This is retirees and young activists from Indivisible to UU Congregations to Democratic Socialists of America building this campaign to resist the racist, anti-immigrant attacks Together, we are saying , “‘We can do this, because [Avelo’s actions] are unacceptable.’”