Denver council rejects city contract with Key Lime Air over role in ICE detainee flights

The Denver City Council rejected a contract with Colorado-based airline Key Lime Air on Monday over the company s work helping carry out President Donald Trump s mass-deportation efforts The company will still be able to fly in and out of Centennial Airport however where its charter operations won t be affected by the vote The rejected contract would have allowed Key Lime Air which has operated in Colorado since at least to use storage facilities at Denver International Airport revealed airport spokesman George Karayiannakis Key Lime flies only out of Centennial but the company owns another airline called Denver Air Connection that operates out of DIA Eleven of the council s members voted against the contract It may seem like any other business decision but it s just not We know that people are being deported without due process Councilwoman Jamie Torres declared in explaining her no vote Colorado Newsline first informed that the company was transporting detainees for U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in October Since then the company has been the focus of protests at the airport and at the University of Colorado Boulder which has a contract with the airline to fly its sports teams to away games Key Lime Air operated flights for ICE in September Colorado Newsline released More than deportation flights have departed from Denver this year according to Colorado Populace Radio Trump initiated a nationwide immigration crackdown when he entered office for his second term earlier this year Those efforts have included hundreds of thousands of deportations Lawyers politicians and activists have criticized that process as illegal and lacking due process and a judge last month ordered ICE agents in the state to follow the law in making immigration arrests Related Articles Kids left without representation in Colorado immigration court after federal funding cuts Here s how Denver police fly drones to calls triggering fears about privacy and surveillance Senators clash over Trump s National Guard deployments as military leaders face questioning Trump s gold card initiative goes live offering US visas starting at million per person Trump administration adds militarized zone in California along southern US confines Monday s vote could put the airport at exposure of losing out on million in annual grants from the Federal Aviation Administration reported Councilwoman Sarah Parady Under that grant the city isn t allowed to treat airlines differently That s a large number that s coming out of an extremely healthy airport budget Parady stated The airport s budget is funded separately from other parts of the city budget since it relies on self-generated revenue from fees and other income including from airlines and passengers This is a advancing story and will be updated Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter The Spot