HomeMy WebLinkAboutIAF_Statement_to_NHC_TDA_-_AUG_27_2025IAF Statement to NHC TDA - AUG 27, 2025 https://www.immigrantalliesforum.org/
Hello, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.
I am here representing the Immigrant Allies Forum. As you know, my esteemed colleague Dr. Katie
Randall spoke at your last meeting.
My name is Lauren Taylor Samples. I was born here in Wilmington, I attended New Hanover County
Public Schools. I graduated from UNCW. After living away for a few years, I returned home to Wilmington
in 2013. I met my husband here. We adopted our son through foster care here. I love Wilmington. I love
the United States of America, I love our democracy and our constitution. I wake up every day grateful to
be here.
I’m not here just to make noise. I am here to plead for the dignified treatment of all human beings.
In April 2025 Avelo Airlines began profiting off deportation flights under a contract with the Department of
Homeland Security. I am not here to argue over any funding given to Avelo before April. As stewards of
our public funds, I am here to ask you to stop any further financial support of Avelo until this inhumane
contract is terminated.
Avelo’s contract with DHS links our county, our community — to the separation of families, the use of
restraints like handcuffs and leg irons, lack of evacuation plans, and the transporting of human beings to
prisons in countries they have never been to before. Many of the people who have been deported have
committed no crime and entered the United States legally as asylum seekers. Seeking asylum is legal.
There is a well known teaching that goes something like ‘whatever you do to the least of these, you do to
me’. To me, that means: how we treat the most vulnerable among us says everything about who we are
as people.
I am a 6th generation immigrant. My third great-grandfather Alexander Smith fled Stirling, Scotland for the
United States of America in 1857 — he simply got on a boat seeking a better life for himself and his
family. Without his bravery I would not live here today.
Tourism is not only about hotel stays or flights — a vacation is a celebration, joy, escape, time with loved
ones. It’s a story we tell about who we are. I hope the story we tell about New Hanover County is one of
compassion, dignity, and welcome. That’s a story I would be proud to share as someone who loves
calling Wilmington, NC home.
Thank you.
Lauren Taylor Samples, IAF