FBO Says It Will No Longer Allow Deportation Flights To Use Its Facility

King County in Washington State has been working on legislation to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using Boeing Field ... also known as King County International Airport ... from using the airport for deportation flights.

Modern Aviation, an FBO at Boeing Field, had been the facilitating such flights by offering gates, fuel, and things like air stairs to allow passengers to get on and off airplanes. While no official ban has been put in place, the Seattle Times reports that the county has been informed by Modern Aviation that it will no longer support those charter flights. The two other FBOs at the field, Signature Flight Support and Kenmore Aero Services, have also said they are not interested in participating in the program.

Airport Director John Parrott told the paper that Modern Aviation "made a business decision, and the county is appreciative."

ICE is understandably displeased with the decision. "It’s unfortunate to see yet another example of local policy-making aimed at intimidating ICE and our partners, particularly when such policies harm the very communities whose welfare they claim to protect, by making it more difficult to remove criminal aliens who prey upon the innocent,” the agency said in a statement.

There have been some 34,000 people deported out of the United States through Boeing Field over the past eight years, according to the report.

Parrott said he was not aware of the details of any contractual obligations that might exist between ICE, Modern Aviation and Swift Air, the charter company that actually operates the flights. But he did say that the change would be in effect in the "near term."

While King County cannot outright forbid such flights due to its obligations to the federal government, the county did direct airport officials to negotiate new leases with the FBOs that would have the same net effect. The county cited "human rights concerns" in directing the new lease negotiations.

(Image from Facebook)

FMI: Source report