![\"Kessler](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Love-Field-ICE-Presser-Austin-Wood.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKessler Park UMC Rev. Eric Folkerth told onlookers to “Remember this day, but continue the work.”\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKessler Park UMC Rev. Eric Folkerth told onlookers to “Remember this day, but continue the work.”\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Austin Wood<\/p>\n
ICE deportation and domestic \u201cshuffle\u201d flights<\/a> have ended at Love Field, activists announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n For months, organizers operating under the banner of No Love For ICE Air have witnessed and documented hundreds of individuals<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Olmo said. \u201cThe fight is not over; it is only moved.\u201d <\/p>\n Sign up for the This Week\u2019s Top Stories newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/p>\n You’re all set.<\/p>\n CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Activists say the flights have been redirected to Fort Worth\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n \u201cFor operational security reasons, ICE does not discuss or confirm specific ICE Air operating locations, flight schedules, passenger totals or other operational details,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cICE 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.<\/p>\n Olmo said they have personally observed 46 domestic \u201cshuffle flights\u201d 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<\/a>, 15 flights took place at Love Field in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThe scale of what has been normalized here in just two years is staggering,\u201d Olmo said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, such as Texas.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u2018We are not done\u2019<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t 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\u2019s terminal, they said their \u201ctarget the money\u201d approach had paid off<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s cancellation of a contract, which did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n