ICE deportation flights, government shutdown’s impact on federal workers hang over Capital Region Airport Commission meeting

The items on the agenda for the monthly Capital Region Airport Commission meeting Oct. 28 focused on moving the Richmond International Airport forward to greater heights, but items absent from the agenda – the moral issue of Immigration Customs and Enforcement deportation flights and the impact of the month-long government shutdown on the federal workers at the airport – weighed on the body.

The question of increased ICE deportation flights out of Richmond International Airport, ferreting off thousands of migrants from across Virginia and beyond from the private Richmond Jet Center, came up for the first time during a presentation from RIC’s state lobbyists with the firm Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP.

State lobbyist Adisa Muse, Hunton Andrews Kurth's director of government affairs, presented to the CRAC his strategy for the upcoming legislative session, advocating for support from both Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the General Assembly to expand to serve the region and potentially include an international flight to Europe. Muse said he would express to those he communicated with at the GA that supporting the Richmond airport “is the best strategy for our local businesses and a growth strategy for continued investment in the region by these larger companies, be it pharma or energy.”

He acknowledged that this would be a challenging session with the federal government shutdown, as about 24% of Virginia’s economy relies on federal funding, and the airport receives a significant amount of federal funding.

CRAC member Misty Roundtree, who represents the Three Chopt District on the Henrico Board of Supervisors, asked Muse about how the ICE deportation flights out of RIC might interplay with the development of garnering support and if legislators on the state level and potentially impact their attitude toward the airport.

“I think on our end, [there’s] not so much concern, but in understanding that you could have a situation where there's members of the General Assembly which may feel one way or another about this,” said Muse.

Muse said he had not been approached by any members of the Virginia General Assembly about the Richmond Airport ICE flight deportation issue but would not be surprised if it came up.

“But I think that we will probably work aggressively to make certain that [ICE deportation flights out of Richmond International Airport were] not a part of conversation as we go later into session in January,” Muse told the CRAC body.

In an email to the Citizen afterwards, Roundtree clarified her concerns, saying that although immigration control is something that long predated the Trump administration, the ICE deportation flights now feel different.

“I think the difference is that we used to be able to have some semblance of belief that they were done in conformity with due process and compliance with existing law,” Roundtree wrote. “We no longer have that net of good faith in this area, so scrutiny exists where it wasn’t necessarily warranted before. So, the problem isn’t with the flights in and of themselves, it’s with the fact that many of us feel strongly that we now have people on those flights that should not be on them. And accordingly, I don’t want our airport to have any role in an unjust and illegal process.”

The detainment, the lack of due process of the detainees and the treatment of the detained people who have been transported to ICE detention hubs in the U.S. or to foreign detainment prisons have been questioned by human rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

According to organizations Human Rights First and ICE Flight Tracker, ICE facilitated at least 89 flights out of RIC between January and September of this year – an 81% increase from 2024, when the total for the entire year was 50.

ICE has not responded to questions asking for clarification on the airport operations submitted by the Citizen to the federal agency’s media relations email and its Freedom of Information Act request portal.

After CRAC members voted to approve a 2030 strategic plan for the airport, and after a report about aviation activity, the Richmond Airport ICE deportation flights came up a second time.

“Commissioner [Tyrone] Nelson asked our [fixed base operator Richmond Jet Center] partner to provide an update,” Miller told the commission. “Mr. [Michael] Clark [president] declined the invitation to engage in discourse and public open session, but he is certainly willing to discuss this matter in detail with you on an individual basis, if you so desire. And if that is the case, if you would just let me know and I'll help coordinate a one-on-one with you and to discuss … that activity going forward.”

Nelson, who on the board of supervisors represents the Varina District (where the airport is located), and Roundtree both emailed the Citizen that they would pursue meetings with Clark to gain clarification on the ICE flight operations.

“It is usually better for information to be presented all at once to a group so there aren’t conflicting interpretations,” Roundtree wrote in an email.

The Richmond Airport ICE deportation flights came up a third time during a closed session of the CRAC executive meeting with the body’s lawyer.

“The question [discussed] was, is there anything we can do to prevent ICE flights from occurring in the airport?” Miller said after the meeting. “The answer is no. We are obligated to comply with federal mandates.”

Nelson, who is vice-chairman of the CRAC was present at the closed session.

“As an individual, I hate this,” Nelson said after the meeting. “I don't agree with it from a legal perspective, [but] I don't think there's anything we can do. As an individual, I think whatever is happening with scooping people up and taking them away from here or a place where many of them come for opportunity, it's a tremendous injustice.”

Government shutdown woes

At the end of the meeting, Miller brought the commission up to date on the impact the federal government shutdown was having on the airport's 300 federal airport employees.

Airport federal workers now have experienced two October pay periods during which they didn't receive full pay. During the first pay period, officials from Customs and Border Patrol, Transportation Safety Administration and air traffic controllers received partial pay. TSA workers are not receiving payment this pay period, however.

“We've been meeting weekly with our federal partners, namely CBP, TSA, and ATC,” Miller said. “They've been assuring us that it's been minimal impact to our operations. We are very proud of people that are showing up without pay. We have also been helping coordinate with providing food. Our effort is to help them by providing food through Feed More [deliveries] and perhaps offering an opportunity to get food through food beverage operators.”

Outside the airport conference room, disembarking passengers streamed toward exits and TSA staffers continued to check passenger’s credentials at the security checkpoints.

A few of the federal workers offered muted responses to having to work without pay during the government shutdown.

“It’s one thing if you're told you can sit at home,” said one airport TSA worker on break, who said he was not authorized to speak to the press. “It's completely different if you're still coming to work every day with the same expenses you had before.”

He felt the election next week could potentially end the shutdown.

Other airport business

In other matters, the CRAC voted to amend the fixed base operator Million Air’s lease at $381,071.16 annually, with a rent escalation of 3% to expire Jan. 31, 2031. CRAC also will fund half of the $1.4-million cost for eight physical improvements, some of which will be compensated through rent credits.

Million Air provides charter services and is a “comprehensive aircraft maintenance facility, capable of performing the full range of airframe and engine maintenance on aircraft ranging from single-engine pistons to commercial airlines and everything in between” according to its website.

Another contractor Juan Pittman, principal and co-managing partner with Frasca & Associates LLC, a financial advising firm that specializes in needs of airports, presented information about their work focusing on debt transactions the firm had handled at other airports around the country totaling billions of dollars.

Richmond airport director Perry Miller told the commission that financial advisory firm Frasca & Associated LLC, which has a year-long contract with the CRAC, would be helping the airport "with bonding and setting rates and charges" when it needs to fund projects that exceed its cash capacities.

Examples, he said, might be the parking garage improvement projects, rental car area renovation or consolidated checkpoint.

The airport’s gross profit is about $7.8 million, according to CFO Basil Dosunmu – almost $2 million above budget. On the operation side, Dosunmu reported interest income remaining at about $1.8 million – about $1.4 million above budget.

RIC’s aviation activity report for September showed passenger, cargo and operational numbers were up, with a total of 402,302 passengers in September. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, passenger numbers were up about 4%. Delta, American and United lead the market share at RIC.

Dina Weinstein is the Citizen’s community vitality reporter and a Report for America corps member, covering housing, health and transportation. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.