(bright music) (suspenseful music) - Welcome to "The Newsfeed."

(transition whooshing) I'm Paris Jackson.

The system of moving people detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement often operates behind closed doors.

Last week, Cascade PBS's Jaelynn Grisso introduced you to the organization assisting detainees when they're released from the ICE Detention Center in Tacoma.

This week, Jaelynn tells us about a group of King County volunteers monitoring flights used to transport detainees.

- In South Seattle, residents drive by the King County International Airport on I5 unaware that just outside their car window, hundreds of people detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement are flown in and loaded onto buses on the tarmac.

- That's the whole thing about ICE detention, is so much of it is hidden from view, - Yet those flights haven't escaped notice.

Volunteers from La Resistencia have monitored the flights week after week here at the King County International Airport since 2023, - The La Resistencia has developed, sort of, kind of guidelines of information we want to get out of these observations.

So the bottom line thing is we want numbers.

- [Jaelynn] Having those counts allows La Resistencia to track the number of folks detained in the Northwest ICE Processing Center.

Based on those numbers, Shikuma said they believe the center is nearing its almost 1,600-person capacity.

- You know, in November, before the elections, there were probably 800 to 900 people inside, and now we believe that there's probably at least 1,400 people, maybe more.

- [Jaelynn] Counting how many detainees are being moved is not an exact science, but Shikuma said one telltale sign is how they walk.

- We look to see if they're shackled.

People can't take a full step.

You can't walk normally, and you can't use your hands.

So when you're going up and down the stairway, you can't grab a rail.

Another reason we want to be there bearing witness to all this is so that we can share that with the public.

Almost nobody knows that this is happening on public grounds, on the King County Airport, a publicly owned airport.

- [Jaelynn] Former King County executive Dow Constantine tried to stop ICE from using the airport in April of 2019.

But the federal government sued.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in ICE's favor in July of 2024.

- Now we're in the position of having to comply with FAA guidance, which means ICE can use that airport.

That is unfortunately the position that we've been put in, but we're not gonna do that without actually ensuring that community organizations have eyes on the ground.

- Mosqueda, who is currently on the King County Council, works with La Resistencia and King County International Airport to ensure the group has a room with clear views to monitor the flights.

- Well, one of the things that we wanna do at King County is maintain clear records of who is getting onto these flights and what the quality of life is for these individuals.

But we cannot do that.

ICE is refusing to give us the information about not only the number of people that are coming onto the flights, but the names.

- [Jaelynn] The flights are also operated by a private company, making it even more difficult to get information about them.

Neither ICE or GlobalX, the private company, responded to a request for comment.

As planes with more detainees arrive and the detention center potentially nears capacity, Shikuma said La Resistencia will keep watching.

- It's important that ICE knows that someone is watching, and we know that abuse is much more likely to happen if those in power feel like no one's watching.

- [Jaelynn] In Seattle, Jaelynn Grisso, Cascade PBS.

- I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching "The Newsfeed," your destination for nonprofit Northwest news, go to cascadepbs.org, now to "PBS NewsHour."