Boeing Field airport operator Modern Aviation will stop serving Swift Air flights that carry immigrant detainees.
King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the decision Thursday, about a week after he issued an executive order that directed the airport to change their practices so the comply with county immigration ordinances, including policies to not cooperate or facilitate immigration enforcement directives unless under court order.
Phoenix-based Swift Air is believed to be the only charter used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Boeing Field, according to Constantine.
Modern Aviation, which is one of three operators at Boeing Field, was the only one that serviced Swift Air. Kenmore Aero Services and Signature Flight Support both told airport officials they would not pick up Swift Air service, according to Constantine.
King County Executive Dow Constantine applauded the move.
“We do not want to see our publicly owned airport used for the wholesale deportation of immigrant detainees, and I applaud Modern Aviation for its civic mindedness," he said in a statement.
A recent report from the University of Washington Center for Human Rights found about 34,400 people have left Boeing Field on 466 deportation flights since 2010. There’s an average of 360 detained immigrants flown out of the airport by ICE each month.