A Texas-based airline has signed a long-term agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration Control and Enforcement agency to carry out deportation flights.
Beginning in May, Avelo Airlines, which is headquartered in Houston, shared with Fox News Digital that they will have three planes flying out of Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA), in Arizona to “support the department’s deportation efforts.”
A spokesperson for the airline said the planes will include three 737-800s and that the domestic and international flights will begin on May 12.
“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic. 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 Crewmembers employed for years to come,” Avelo Airlines Founder and CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement.
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Avelo Airline signs deal with ICE to ‘support the department’s deportation efforts’ (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
The airline said it will also open a base at AZA with Avelo pilots, flight attendants and aircraft technicians, as well as appropriate local leaders.
“We expect to begin hiring locally for these positions immediately. Current Avelo Crewmembers (employees) will have the first option to transfer to our new AZA base,” the airline said.
The airline posted a job description for flight attendants interested in flying on the deportation flights, stating that they were searching for “energetic, highly motivated” flight attendants who will support deportation efforts.
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Avelo Airlines says it will carry out deportation flights at Mesa Gateway Airport starting in May. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
“This opportunity is for a charter program for the Department of Homeland Security. Flights will be both domestic and international trips to support DHS’s deportation efforts,” the listing reads.
Pay starts at $28 per hour, according to the listing.
Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and Homeland Security but didn’t immediately hear back.
The Trump administration has deported more than 100,000 illegal migrants in the 11 weeks since President Donald Trump returned to the White House on Jan. 20, according to a New York Post report citing a Department of Homeland Security official.
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President Donald Trump and deported migrants in Colombia. (Jim WATSON / AFP, left, and Colombian government.)
Both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol officials have made around 113,000 arrests and carried out “north of” 100,000 deportations, the New York Post reported.
“He’s doing what he was voted in to do. Point blank!” an ICE source told the outlet.
Border czar Tom Homan has vowed to deport criminal illegal migrants, particularly those who pose national security threats, although it’s not known how many of those deported had committed crimes while in the U.S.
The deportations come as the Trump administration has simultaneously reduced the number of illegal border crossers to record lows.
The latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) numbers show that during March, the southwest border saw the lowest number of crossings ever, with just 7,180 recorded.
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Venezuelan migrants flown from Guantanamo Bay via Honduras walk up a ladder after arriving on a deportation flight at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, La Guaira State, Venezuela, February 20, 2025. (REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
Trump has faced scrutiny over the migrant deportation flights as a federal judge has claimed that these flights may have violated a federal court order.
At issue is whether the administration knowingly violated U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s emergency order, which temporarily blocked the deportations and required that any individuals removed under a centuries-old law be “immediately” returned to U.S. soil. Flights carrying migrants, including those deported under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, still landed in El Salvador that same night.
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Boasberg, who issued the emergency orders at the center of the controversial and complex case, has said he intends to find out whether the administration knowingly violated them, and who, if anyone, should be held accountable.
The Alien Enemies Act, passed in 1798, has been used only three times in American history – during the War of 1812 and the two world wars – making its modern application by the Trump administration a rare legal maneuver.
Trump officials have argued invoking the law is necessary to expel dangerous individuals, including alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, who were flown to El Salvador under the administration’s new deportation policy.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Breanne Deppisch, and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
