Kessler Park UMC Rev. Eric Folkerth told onlookers to “Remember this day, but continue the work.”
Austin Wood
ICE deportation and domestic “shuffle” flights have ended at Love Field, activists announced Wednesday.
For months, organizers operating under the banner of No Love For ICE Air have witnessed and documented hundreds of individuals, often shackled, being loaded onto planes at private terminals at the city-owned airport. Organizers staged multiple protests, and at the Cathedral of Hope Wednesday morning, they said their efforts paid off.
No flights have been observed since a final boarding on Sept. 29, Lanie Olmo, an organizer with No Love for ICE Air and the Democratic Socialists of America, said. Love Field spokesperson Lauren Rounds confirmed to the Observer Tuesday that Signature Aviation, the fixed-base operator (FBO) that has serviced the flights since late June, told the city that operations have ended, though she could not offer more details. Atlantic Aviation, a Plano-based FBO, previously serviced the flights.
“We believe this change is permanent, but we will remain vigilant if Signature or Atlantic Aviation decides to do a contract with Ice Air; we will be back because this fight is not over,” Olmo said. “The fight is not over; it is only moved.”
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Activists say the flights have been redirected to Fort Worth’s Alliance Airport, another city-owned airfield. Jason Meyer, an airport spokesperson, said officials have no control over federal flight activity and directed the Observer to the Department of Homeland Security for more information. In a statement, a DHS spokesperson did not say whether Fort Worth would be the new base for ICE Air in North Texas.
“For operational security reasons, ICE does not discuss or confirm specific ICE Air operating locations, flight schedules, passenger totals or other operational details,” the statement reads. “ICE transportation operations are driven by operational needs, safety, security, geography and the need to move individuals in custody in a controlled and humane manner. ICE continually evaluates available ground and air transportation options to meet mission requirements efficiently, safely and responsibly.
Olmo said they have personally observed 46 domestic “shuffle flights” entering or leaving FBO terminals since May, which she estimated transported roughly 2,606 individuals. They have also observed and tracked an additional 12 flights destined for international airports, suggesting deportation operations, with an estimated 1,166 individuals boarded on the planes, Olmo said, adding that the estimates were likely undercounts. According to Human Rights First, 15 flights took place at Love Field in 2024.
“The scale of what has been normalized here in just two years is staggering,” Olmo said. “We have video and photo evidence documenting nearly 3,500 of these detained individuals, and they are not statistics to us. We looked at their faces. We watched them walk across that tarmac, and what we saw made us sick.”
Observers have frequently warned about shuffle flights specifically, which they say can be used to skirt the legal process and move detainees between holding facilities in states with especially long backlogs for immigration hearings, such as Texas.
John Putnam, another lead organizer with No Love For ICE Air and El Movimiento, said they had seen what appeared to be young adults and pregnant women being loaded onto planes.
‘We are not done’
This isn’t the first time the group has touted a victory in its pressure campaign against ICE and the FBOs that provide hangar space and refueling services for chartered flights. In July, after ICE-tied flights shifted from Atlantic Aviation to Signature’s terminal, they said their “target the money” approach had paid off.
Dallas officials have insisted the city has no authority to stop or regulate federal flight activity at the airport, a claim a local aviation attorney said was accurate in a prior interview with the Observer. Olmo said the move likely stemmed from Signature Aviation’s cancellation of a contract, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Emails obtained by The Dallas Morning News through an open records request confirmed that Love Field officials knew about the flights in July. In one email, Signature Aviation Love Field GM Brett Langsdorf requested permission to install black mesh fencing around the terminal to avoid “further media scrutiny.” The company’s request was denied, although records show high-ranking employees discussing ways to make the operation more discreet.
Even if the city didn’t decide to host operations or end the flights, Putnam said he was angry with local leaders for their silence on the issue.
“I’m not even mad at the conservative ones,” Putnam said. “I’m mad at the ones that say that they care about immigrants or that they’re progressive.”
Olmo said they are in contact with Fort Worth organizers to continue monitoring the activity in Tarrant County.
“We won something very real today,” Olmo said. “But as I said, we are not done.”