Local Protestors Take the Fight Against Avelo Airlines to the Albany County Office Building

For three months, scores of Capital Region residents have rallied outside of Albany International Airport to draw attention to Avelo Airlines. The floundering budget airline contracted with the Trump Administration earlier this spring to conduct deportation flights on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a desperate attempt to remain financially viable. Since that time, Avelo has participated in the removal of countless American residents who have been abducted by ICE from our streets, courthouses, farm fields and restaurant kitchens. At a time when more individuals are imprisoned by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security than at any time in American history, Avelo has become an integral and indispensable part of ICE’s immoral and unconstitutional attacks upon our local communities.

On Monday, August 4, 2025, Indivisible Albany delivered a letter to Albany County officials demanding that they publicly declare where they stand on the issue of Avelo Airlines; do they stand in defense of, and in solidarity with, our vulnerable local communities, or are they in collusion with the violence and deprivation of constitutional rights being perpetrated by ICE and Avelo Airlines? Do they stand with our friends, families and neighbors who are being terrorized in Albany County and elsewhere, or do they stand with a floundering corporation just trying to make a buck by facilitating ICE’s campaign of terror? As of this writing, no County official has publicly, or privately, responded to this correspondence.

At noon on Wednesday, August 6, Capital Region residents once again demonstrated against the corporate complicity of Avelo Airlines and the inhumane terror campaign of ICE. But this time, the message was taken to the Albany County Office Building on State Street downtown, where we once again demanded that Avelo Airlines terminate its contract with ICE, and also called upon our elected County officials to explain why Avelo is permitted to continue its operations at Albany International Airport. Capital Region residents deserve to know what benefits Avelo receives from our tax dollars while it participates in an unlawful terror campaign against our communities.