A small airline is raising a big stir at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall airport.

Protestors have periodically gathered near the airport since summer to call on the Maryland Aviation Administration to kick Avelo Airlines out of BWI over its charter flight contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Some protests have drawn state lawmakers critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“As we watch human rights being violated in our midst, what can our state do?” Del. Lorig Charkoudian, a Montgomery County Democrat who joined a recent protest, asked in an interview. “It’s incumbent on us to take a look at what we can in fact regulate.”

But the state has limited jurisdiction, legal experts warn — and canceling Avelo’s contract could invite the federal government to try and withhold tens of millions of dollars that help keep the airport running.

A spokesperson for Gov. Wes Moore declined to comment in response to a question regarding whether Moore is considering canceling Avelo’s contract with the MAA, deferring to the state transportation department.

“As a federally funded, public-use airport, BWI Marshall Airport is required by federal law, regulations, and grant assurances to provide access to all certified air carriers without discrimination,” Jonathan Dean, spokesperson for the MAA, which oversees the airport, wrote in an email.

Texas-based Avelo has flown to Maryland since 2021, but operates only a handful of regular passenger flights in and out of BWI each week to two destinations — New Haven, Connecticut, and Wilmington, North Carolina. The carrier handled just over 36,000 passengers at BWI in fiscal year 2025, according to Dean, accounting for 0.14% of all airport passengers.

The budget airline took the lucrative ICE deal that began in May largely as a means to keep its passenger service afloat, according to media reports. In the months since, Avelo planes have conducted deportation flights, as well as domestic ones, as ICE transfers immigrant detainees to different facilities around the country.

Avelo Airlines did not respond to multiple requests for comment or emailed questions.

The MAA cannot confirm specific details regarding the ICE charter flights, Dean said, but the agency “understands” that Avelo has operated just one such flight from BWI, which was earlier this year. Coast Guard aircraft have been conducting such flights in recent months, he said.

A Boeing 737 aircraft with tail number N804VL is one of three Avelo planes reportedly doing such flights, according to NBC News’ Hartford, Connecticut, affiliate. The plane is part of a list of 21 active aircraft operated by the airline, according to the Airframes database.

Before May, that plane traveled to and from Connecticut most days, according to adsbexchange.com, a tracking website. But since then, the plane has traveled all over the country, as well as to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. In September, it even flew near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a U.S. military installation where ICE previously held some immigrant detainees.

On May 31, it flew from Phoenix, Arizona, to Baltimore, and then on to Alexandria, Louisiana, home to one of ICE’s busiest deportation hubs, according to the New York Times.

The state could, in theory, cancel its contract with Avelo — a standard deal it has with all airlines — providing for use of terminal gates and check-in counter space inside the airport without cause.

But it likely wouldn’t be able to prevent the airline — or any ICE flights, for that matter — from using the airspace near BWI or even landing on its tarmac. Even if barred from pulling into an airport gate, a plane operated by or on behalf of ICE could theoretically land, deplane and board passengers directly on the tarmac using stairs.

That’s because the Federal Aviation Administration has jurisdiction over most aspects of air travel, and its regulations typically supersede state authority, said Jim Brauchle, an aviation attorney and former U.S. Air Force navigator.

The FAA handles air traffic control and sets the rules of the runway, but it’s the state’s duty to maintain the actual tarmac.

As a public airport, BWI benefits from federal grants to do that work. It’s set to receive nearly $80 million in federal funds over the next two fiscal years, according to budget documents, for projects that include repaving the airport’s largest runway.

“Nobody rides for free,” said Brauchle.

President Donald Trump’s administration has already shown a willingness to dangle grant funding as leverage, particularly for states or universities that don’t align their priorities with the current federal ones. Though a Rhode Island judge recently ruled the administration cannot impose immigration-related requirements in transportation grant agreements with states, any Maryland action regarding Avelo may fall outside the bounds of that decision.

It’s not unheard of for an airport to cancel a deal with an airline if the company isn’t bringing in the business that it said it would, Brauchle said — if canceled or reduced flights lead to less revenue from landing fees, for example, or fewer passengers walking the terminal and buying a meal. But he’s unaware of any examples of an airport canceling a contract over an issue like immigration.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond emailed questions and a request for comment about its charter operations.

Charkoudian continues to research the issue, and said that she may introduce legislation in the coming General Assembly session to address possible health and safety issues. A recent Associated Press investigation revealed ICE’s use of full body restraints on some detainees during deportation flights, with some alleging they were put in “the WRAP” for hours. Charkoudian said she has heard reports that ICE detainees may be restrained onboard while planes are refueling.

“We have to step in as the state of Maryland and say we are not going to put detainees in danger,” Charkoudian said.

A decision from the state to cut ties with Avelo would represent that Maryland is “not going to be complicit” while a company benefits from an ICE contract, she said.