By ZACH LAIRD, InDepthNH.org
PORTSMOUTH — Two Journey Aviation flights allegedly carried Ukrainian refugees back to Ukraine after landing at Pease International Airport to refuel on Monday, violating federal law by transporting them to a country where they may face harm, according to a No Ice NH news release.
According to the group, Journey Aviation flights 8 and 86 were en route from Phoenix to Ukraine via Poland. A live flight tracker on flightaware.com shows that Flight 8 was not available for public tracking per request from the owner/operator. The site also states that Flight 86 departed from Poland early Wednesday morning. Federal law generally prohibits deporting a person to a country where their life would be threatened based on race, religion, nationality or political opinion.
“The Portsmouth International Airport is federally obligated to allow aircraft to land and depart,” Pease Development Authority spokesperson Tiffany Eddy said. “If it is an FAA-approved flight, the aircraft has the right to land and take off from Portsmouth International Airport. The airport is not aware of destinations for unscheduled charter operations.”
Eddy said Homeland Security has not informed the airport of any immigration flights, and referred to the Department of Homeland Security for further comment. Both the department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could not be reached for comment and are usually unavailable to questions from InDepthNH.org.
Journey Aviation explained that it is a private aviation services provider and that “as a matter of long-standing industry and company policy, does not comment on its flight operations, contractual arrangements, or client/passenger lists.”
In February, an Omni aircraft carrying about 100 ICE detainees was stranded at Pease International Airport during a blizzard. While the detainees were given food, beverages and shelter until they departed the next day, critics stressed issues of them being kept in shackles, along with a lack of communication between federal authorities and the city.
Portsmouth City Attorney Susan G. Morrell said the city has no authority over the actions of Homeland Security or ICE, nor does it have authority over what is taking place at the airport.
Mayor Deaglan McEachern did not respond to requests for comment.
No ICE NH spokesperson Kim Herdman Shapiro had the following comment on the matter:
“I think what’s striking about this particular issue – when you’re talking about ICE detainees and transporting them – is that you look at the example we had not long ago. Detainees were trapped on a plane for hours and hours after already being transported for 24 hours, and were only allowed to the terminal shackled.
“They (ICE) don’t care that they’re breaking international law, they appear not to care about the fact they’re returning people to a warzone, where they very well may perish. It has a terrible feeling with ICE that those lives don’t matter, and that’s why it’s so important what we’re trying to do, to make sure those lives do matter.”