To the Flathead Municipal Airport Authority and Flathead County Commissioners:

We write and sign this petition as residents, voters, and members of a community that believes in law, justice, and dignity. Our request is simple, urgent, and nonnegotiable: Cancel Avelo Airlines’ contract at Glacier International Airport.

Avelo Airlines is currently contracted to operate deportation flights for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a $150 million agreement that enables the mass removal of individuals, many of whom are denied their right to a fair hearing. This includes people like Beker Rengifo del Castillo, a lawful Montana resident, and asylum seeker whose case represents a horrifying and all-too-common breach of constitutional protections. After a seemingly routine traffic stop in Whitefish, Beker was detained by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, transported to an privately owned and ICE-contracted detention center in Tacoma, and held in custody for a week. All without a court hearing and without due process. His family had no idea where he was. He was nearly deported from the country he has called home, on unlawful grounds, and before ever seeing a judge. Only public outcry and legal intervention stopped what would have been an unconstitutional expulsion.

These are not isolated errors. These are systematic, deliberate, illegal expulsions. In the unanimous decision of Noem v. Abrego Garcia, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that individuals facing deportation have the constitutional right to due process, including the right to a fair hearing before any removal can occur. Deportations without hearings violate the Constitution, federal legal precedent, and basic human decency.

And yet, Avelo profits from aiding and abetting the government in facilitating this suffering. And so long as Glacier International Airport continues to host them, so do you. We know that the Flathead County Commissioners appoint the members of the Flathead Municipal Airport Authority. We know FCA is a public entity airport. That makes your inaction a matter of public record. We are not naïve to the lack of responsiveness from local officials when it comes to public outrage. But if the people are not being heard, then this petition is not only a request. It is a warning. If this contract continues, it will not be forgotten. It will be organized around. It will be challenged. And those who ignore it will be named and remembered at the ballot box.

We demand:

1. The immediate cancellation of Avelo’s contract and landing privileges at FCA.

2. A public condemnation of deportation flights that violate due process and constitutional law.

3. A binding policy to reject airport agreements with any company complicit in illegal removals.

We understand that to many in power, this may seem like a symbolic fight. But it’s not symbolic to those whose lives are ripped apart. It’s not symbolic to the children and parents who disappear from communities without warning or legal recourse. And it’s not symbolic to us. Complicity is not neutrality. It is a choice, and we are choosing to resist. Your silence, or your action, will be your legacy. We’re calling for an end to cruelty, secrecy, and complicity. Cancel the contract. Cut the ties. Do what’s right.

Sincerely,

The undersigned Flathead County residents