- Amazon bought a one-fifth stake in the owners of a controversial air carrier, The Intercept reports.
- The subsidiary, Omni Air, is the leading private air service for US Homeland Security deportations.
- Reports of abuse on Omni flights are at odds with Amazon's public support of immigrants' rights.
Last March, Amazon announced a deal with Air Transport Services Group, a charter service it had been using for more than five years to send packages around the country.
For a cost of $131 million, Amazon acquired about 13.5 million shares of ATSG, giving the tech giant a significant 19.5% ownership stake in the airline, Bloomberg reported at the time.
But new reporting from The Intercept shows that the deal makes Amazon a partial owner of Omni Air International, a highly controversial passenger service that is a subsidiary of ATSG.
ATSG executives credit Omni with being "a notable contributor" to overall profits, but one reason the company does so well is it is the carrier of choice for deportation flights by the US Department of Homeland Security.
DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement deal with Omni through yet another intermediary, Classic Air Charter Inc., to coordinate "high-risk" charter flights, The Intercept reported.
Neither Amazon nor Omni responded immediately to Insider's request for comment on The Intercept's investigation.
Most commercial carriers are reportedly unwilling to serve these so-called "ICE Air" flights due to concerns over public backlash or negative media attention, leaving Omni with considerable pricing power to set rates with the US government, according to a document obtained by Quartz.
Meanwhile, human rights advocates told The Intercept that the treatment of detainees on flights operated by Omni is tantamount to torture and abuse.
One specific practice at issue is the use of a restraint device known as a WRAP, which encloses a persons arms, legs, and body, immobilizing detainees for journeys of up to 30 hours, The Intercept reported.
The allegations against Omni extend well before Amazon's arrangement with ATSG, but one expert told The Intercept that he counted at least 21 deportation flights in the year since the deal was made.
The treatment of ICE deportees aboard Omni flights appears to be at odds with Amazon's public statements in support of human rights, and of immigrants and immigration reform.
"We are committed to ensuring the people, workers, and communities that support our entire value chain are treated with fundamental dignity and respect," Amazon says in its Global Human Rights Principles. "We strive to ensure that the products and services we provide are produced in a way that respects human rights."
Researcher and activist Sarah Towle told The Intercept she is pushing for two key actions from Amazon.
"First, I want Amazon to recognize its complicity, by virtue of its connection to Omni, in the commission of egregious human rights violations," she said. "Second, Amazon should sever Omni's relationship with ICE."
"Amazon can cut ICE loose and never miss a cent," she added.