The Denver City Council has rejected a resolution that would have allowed Key Lime Air to expand at Denver International Airport, citing ongoing concerns with the airline’s involvement with immigration enforcement flights.

The proposed lease, which was struck down 11-1 on Monday, would have reserved 1,200 square feet of ground space for Key Lime Air. The space would have been used for storage purposes, including employee parking, an office trailer and snow removal equipment.

Council member Kevin Flynn was the lone vote in favor of the resolution, citing financial reasons in a statement to MS NOW on Tuesday.

“Rejecting the lease actually saved money for Key Lime Air because they will continue shared use of the common area for free. It made sense to me to start charging them. In any case, they cannot be excluded from the airport,” Flynn said.

“I have been following Key Lime Air for the greater part of this year and have been monitoring what’s been going on with them, and I am very concerned about the illegal deportations that this vendor is taking part in at the Centennial Airport,” council member Stacie Gilmore said Monday. The airline is based at Centennial Airport in Arapahoe County, Colorado.

Gilmore added, “I think it’s an important stance to say that it is not an allowable use on city property, the city and county of Denver’s property, to have a vendor out there that is actively breaking people’s unconstitutional rights and due process,” Gilmore said.

Council member Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, who also voted against the expansion, told MS NOW she is “proud” the proposed resolution failed.

“Our city chose to stand with immigrants and against the expansion of deportation flights because we know that our immigrant neighbors deserve a city that welcomes everybody, not one further invested in separating families and deporting members of our community,” she said Tuesday.

According to a recent Human Rights First flight monitor report, the airline made at least 162 flights chartered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month. The report also shows that so far this year, there have been 122 Key Lime Air outbound immigration enforcement flights out of Denver.

It is not immediately clear how or if the rejection of the lease will affect the airport’s Federal Aviation Administration grants.

“I have no interest in supporting this deportation machine, and if an aviation grant is what’s on the line there, it’s very clear to me where the city shall stand on that and where my obligations are to people in this city and around the country,” council member Sarah Parady said Monday.

Key Lime Air has been operating out of Denver since 2006.

Neither the airline nor Denver International Airport responded to MS NOW’s requests for comment.

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