A federal appeals court has ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can continue using a Seattle airport for chartered deportation flights. This decision overturns a 2019 local order aimed at countering former President Donald Trump's immigration policies.

ICE has been using airports across the country to carry out deportation flights for people considered legally removable from the U.S. In 2019, King County Executive Dow Constantine, reflecting Seattle and Washington state’s resistance to Trump's policies, issued an executive order. He raised concerns that deportations could be seen as human rights violations and announced that future leases at Boeing Field, the county airport, would prevent operators from supporting deportation flights.

In 2020, the U.S. government sued King County, claiming that an order from County Executive Dow Constantine was unfairly targeting the federal government by preventing it from using a local airport for deportation flights. The government also argued that the order violated an old contract that allowed the federal government to use the airport. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan agreed with the government, so Constantine issued a new executive order in early 2023. This new order did not block deportation flights, but it limited how King County resources could be used in the deportation process, only allowing the county to help as required by federal law. Transparency regarding any deportation flights is another requirement of the new rule. The county keeps a record of deportation flights from the airport on its website, and the airport now has a conference room where the public can watch deportation flights on a video stream.

By May 2023, deportation flights had resumed as a result of Constantine's second executive order and Bryan's ruling. A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed Bryan's decision in a ruling on Friday. Judge Daniel A. Bress of the 9th Circuit wrote for the panel that the Executive Order essentially gives King County the authority to manage ICE's transportation and deportation activities, compelling ICE to either cease using Boeing Field or use government-owned aircraft there, illegally superseding the federal government's discretion. King County declared that it will not pursue the case further.

Amy Enbysk, a spokeswoman for the King County Executive's Office, said in an emailed statement that the Ninth Circuit's decision allows federal power to override local values even if there is no actual impact. She added that although King County disagrees with the court's decision, it will still follow the court's orders.