A federal appeals court said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can keep using a Seattle airport for chartered deportation flights, which is positive news for the incoming Trump administration.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a 2019 local executive order that tried to go against President Trump’s immigration policies. The court said that King County, Washington, broke its contract by not letting deportations happen at King County International Airport, which is also known as Boeing Field.
The court said the order was illegal because it was unfair to ICE and went after federal processes. Trump used Boeing Fields in 2019 to remove people who were in the U.S. illegally, and the local county tried to stop the president’s operations.
The order made ICE start using an airport in Yakima, Washington, for the deportation planes. This was a much longer drive from ICE’s Northwest detention center.
“The relocation increased operational costs due to the greater distance from ICE detention facilities to the airport. It also led to increased security concerns,” the ruling noted.
