Protests in Sonoma County target Avelo Airlines deportation flights

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Protesters lined the streets of the road leading up to the front doors of the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, sending a message to Avelo Airlines.

Signs with words and phrases like "fascism" and "no due process" caught the eyes of drivers heading to the airport.

"I'm out here because I believe in democracy," said Ken Malik of Santa Rosa.

People from all over Sonoma County spent the two busiest hours of the airport expressing frustration at Avelo Airlines; an airline that recently expanded into Wine Country.

"I flew Avelo over the summer. It was great," said Roxanne Goodfellow of Santa Rosa. 

She joined in on the protest with a group called Indivisible Sonoma County.

"It says something about the whole corporate mentality that they would do this," Goodfellow said.

Earlier this month, Avelo announced it would enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, planning to commit three planes to fly deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

And due to low demand, it will shut down its hub in Sonoma County.

"After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 crew members employed for years to come," said company CEO Andrew Levy in an April 9 statement.

"I'm Jewish. It reminded me of the people who might have profiteered being the train company to take those people to camp," said Nora Pearl of Petaluma.

"You have got an organization like Avelo who wants to make money on peoples' grief and heartache," said Malik. "We have to do something about it. I'm 80 years old, and I'm still an activist and the times are as troubling now as they were in the '60s."

In response to this protest, Avelo released this statement: 

The airline will begin operating its deportation flights out of Arizona starting May 12.