A diverse coalition of community members continued protesting outside Wilmington Airport (ILG) in New Castle on Saturday, August 9th. They held signs on both sides of the highway displaying anger towards Avelo Airlines’ ongoing contract with the Department of Homeland Security to fly charter flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Attendees requested passersby in vehicles to honk to do the same. They received near-constant positive responses. Some protestors also expressed concerns about local taxpayer support going to the airline and perceived government inaction.
Avelo Airlines, which started service at ILG in February 2023, is the only retail airline carrier to fly out of Delaware. In April 2025, Avelo CEO Andrew Levy announced the company would begin flying charter flights for ICE to “provide stability” for its commercial service. Protests started nationwide outside airports the airline operated from soon afterwards.
Levy stood by the company’s decision, attributing some of the backlash to “a fundamental misunderstanding how the federal government contracts the flights,” in a letter replying to the Connecticut Attorney General’s concerns. The airline began flying the charter deportation flights in May 2025.
Attendees identified that the bi-weekly protests in Delaware have been organized since April by Indivisible Highlands and Beyond (IHB), a grassroots activism group located in Wilmington. Gayle Gibson, a member of IHB’s Advocacy Group mentioned that the group was “working with other groups to get better leverage” to continue discussions with Delaware and New Castle County officials. She held a sign reading “Delaware STOP Incentives for ICE Flights by Avelo”. Gibson mentioned IHB was supporting a webpage published by Defend and Recruit, an immigrants’ rights organization in North Carolina, “as part of a coalition to discuss further action.”
Deirdre Gordon travelled from Newtown Square, Pennsylvania to join the protest. “When the community signed on for the tax breaks, I don’t think they signed on for ICE,” she said, referring to a fuel tax break estimated to save the airline $43,000 a year when it was agreed to by the state of Delaware in 2022. Gordon called any taxpayer support of the airline “dirty money” and was one of several protest attendees to point out a lack of separation between the company’s ICE charter flights and commercial services. She vowed to never fly on the airline.
Dorothy Satterfield, a Wilmington resident who has repeatedly attended the protests since they began in April, said she was “extremely angry about what Trump is doing to immigrants”. She used a megaphone to chant anti-ICE, anti-racist, and anti-fascist slogans that could be heard across the busy highway. Dorothy shared that she had recently argued with friends who were considering taking an Avelo flight from ILG for its budget price point. She pointed out to the friend that “they’ll also be happy to deport you to a hellhole prison in El Salvador if the price is right.”
Members of the Delaware Democratic Socialists of America (DE DSA) Migrant Rights Working Group were also present at the protest. One member, Meme, held an intricate sign saying “Avelo Profits from Human Trafficking”. The sign was adorned by a model plane with Avelo livery wrapped in chains and dripping blood-red ink. They mentioned that the DE DSA’s Migrant Rights Working Group was involved in local and national coalition efforts. Meme frustratedly called the airline out for “profiting off of human suffering and breaking families apart” before suggesting Governor Meyer could “step up” and “truly support the boycott by doing more.” She was referring to a disapproving, but reserved statement on the contract made by Delaware’s Governor in April.
Lloyd Cole, another Newtown Square resident, was completely uneasy about Avelo’s business partnership with the local economy. He previously considered using Avelo because of ILG’s “convenience”. He did more research after news of the ICE contract broke, and realized the company was “a failing airline that uses the government to prop itself up.” Cole mentioned that Avelo’s Delaware fuel tax break runs out this year, and is concerned the airline will withdraw from ILG, as they have from other markets, once they begin to lose financial incentives. He questioned if the airline was “truly a partner the community wants” after his research into Avelo’s business model and ICE contract.
Amy Roe, a volunteer with Indivisible Newark, DE – First State and repeat attendee of the protests echoed a similar sentiment about the relationship between the ICE contract and Delaware’s economy. “It doesn’t matter to me if New Castle’s airport is being used for Avelo ICE flights or not. Avelo Airlines, the company, is doing it and that’s wrong.”
On their Mobilize page, IHB has another protest scheduled outside of Wilmington Airport on August 23rd from 11 am to noon.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For transparency purposes, Andrew Ramsaran was previously involved as a local organizer with Defend and Recruit’s “Abduction Airlines” campaign. He contributed to the Delaware webpage published on their website.