Denver Council Votes Today on Airport Airline Deals Amid Deportation Flight Debate
Denver is a city in Denver County, Colorado (a consolidated city-county). The Denver City Council votes today (October 13) on 10 airline use agreements for Denver International Airport. The package was postponed on October 5 by an 11-0 council vote, with members asking for time to consult immigrant-rights organizations and to spell out safeguards and accountability provisions related to deportation flights in the agreements. Council President Pro Tem Sarah Parady, who introduced the postponement, said members needed more time to clarify the protections. Council member Shontel Lewis called for monitoring of deportation flights and for the tracking information to be made public to Denver residents.
A review found that six of the 10 agreements (such as those with Air Canada and Cayman Airways) contain no specific restrictions on immigration or deportation flights, and no requirements to track or publicly report them. Denver International Airport's CEO previously told a committee that the ICE flights at the center of the controversy operate separately through a fixed-base operator and would continue whether or not the agreements are approved. Today's vote will set the framework for the airport's airline partnerships for years to come.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 丹佛国际机场登机口。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，ZappaOMatic 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权
