Grounding Avelo: How Grassroots Pressure Ended ICE Deportation Flights from BWI
Stony Run Peace & Justice Committee
Doctors for Camp Closures (D4CC) was founded during the first Trump administration when the doctors publicized the horrific conditions of the detention centers and the separation of families. During the winter and spring of 2025, D4CC realized that the administration was disappearing people to other countries’ prisons so that doctors and lawyers can’t have access to them and let the public know what’s happening. So, to target the means of transporting immigrants, they invited protest at Signature Aviation which provides the fuel and the runways for the planes, and the founder of D4CC delivered a petition asking them to stop supplying ICE with fuel and runways. A member of the Peace and Justice committee began coordinating with D4CC and others to publicize their work and get involved.
In April 2025, Avelo airlines, a small airline which flies out of BWI and other locations, signed a large contract with DHS to deport immigrants without due process. Protests were held at BWI overpasses; then a permit was obtained to have a protest at the arrival doors at BWI near Avelo. A petition to Gov. Moore was circulated asking him to rescind Avelo’s permission to fly out of BWI. Members of Peace and Justice made sure the Meeting was aware of the campaign against Avelo, encouraged participation and actively sought signatures for the Petition. In the fall, members continued working to obtain signatures for the Petition (including at No Kings II Rally in Washington, D.C., on October 18, 2025) as well as writing to their State legislators to support the Petition. In October, a rally in Annapolis was held to present the Governor with approximately 14,000 signatures on the Petition. More State legislators and others supported the Petition to evict Avelo from BWI. Although Gov. Moore responded that he was aware of the concerns, he did not take action.
When Gov. Moore failed to act, members/attenders of Stony Run Meeting and others held a car caravan at BWI on a November Saturday. Drivers signed up for two-hour shifts, decorated their car with posters and washable car paint urging people to boycott Avelo, and drove around the Arrivals and Departures at BWI. We especially targeted morning departures when an Avelo flight to Tweed Airport in Connecticut was departing. Connecticut protestors were at the Tweed Airport when the flight landed so travelers would see protestors at both ends of their trip. In January 2026, Avelo announced it would end its partnership with DHS/ICE by January 27, 2026 – a victory for the nonviolent protests against Avelo Airlines by so many!