Kica Matos: “We organized, we protested, we boycotted, and we said we would not stop until Avelo stopped being complicit in human suffering.” Abdul Osmanu: “Justice for Renee Nicole Good, and the many others that have been slaughtered and executed by the state, just like her.” Whoops and whistles rang across the Green Thursday as more than 100 immigrant rights advocates took a victory lap after Avelo Airlines announced an end to its deportation flights. Amid the celebration, activists mourned the death of Renee Nicole Good — a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota the day before the rally — and urged continued resistance to the Trump administration’s deportation policies. “We organized, we protested, we boycotted, and we said we would not stop until Avelo stopped being complicit in human suffering,” declared Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund. “Today, we celebrate. Let this be a reminder that when we fight, we win.” The crowd cheered and chanted. The rally, which took place in front of the state courthouse on Elm Street, was held one day after Avelo confirmed that it will stop running deportation flights later this month because its participation in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program is too complex and costly to continue. The budget airline has also decided to double down on its commercial airfare business at Tweed New Haven Airport, even as it closes other bases across the country. Thursday’s rally was organized in part by groups that led the local protest movement against Avelo’s deportation flights, including the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, Connecticut Students for a Dream, the National Immigration Law Center, and Unidad Latina en Acción. Mayor Justin Elicker, who has strongly criticized Avelo’s deportation flights, also attended the event. When asked about Avelo’s announcement, an ICE spokesperson told the Independent, “ICE never contracted directly with Avelo Airlines. ICE will continue to utilize its contracted service provider, which works with multiple airlines to support the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens.” (The airline publicly stated in April that it signed a contract with ICE and said on Wednesday that it had ended its charter with the DHS.) During Thursday’s rally, speakers credited boycotts and frequent protests for Avelo’s move to stop running deportation flights. “Avelo Airlines made the decision to end its contract with the Department of Homeland Security because people organized,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, executive director of Connecticut Students for a Dream and the Independent’s 2025 New Havener of the Year. “There is power in our dollar. […] People said that we will not accept seeing human beings flown out of our communities in chains.” Speakers also mourned deeply for Renee Good, describing her death in Minneapolis as an injustice that portends further violence by the Trump administration against citizens and noncitizens alike. Good “was shot and killed by ICE agents while trying to protect her neighbors,” said Sookdeo. “She stepped in out of love and courage for her fellow person.” Abdul Osmanu, an elected member of Hamden’s town council, said, “Justice for Renee Nicole Good, and the many others that have been slaughtered and executed by the state, just like her.” To those now afraid of protesting the administration, Osmanu said, “That makes sense. It really does. But we need to be able to understand that complacency doesn’t protect us.” At the end of the rally, together, attendees blew loudly on their anti-ICE whistles and dispersed. Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers: “Let’s remember that after they murdered [Renee Good], they still went to a high school in Minneapolis and still terrorized teenagers in that city. And we in New haven, we as teachers must prepare to protect our students and our neighbors.” Students on a bus driving by clapped and whooped. The post Advocates Celebrate Avelo’s Departure From Deportation Biz appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less