Federal Immigration Arrests at Airports Part of Trump Administration Policy Shift
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested at least 27 people at U.S. airports in nine states, including California, under a new tactic targeting visa overstays during domestic travel, according to documents obtained by ABC News and CNN. The arrests are the result of increased collaboration between ICE and the Transportation Security Administration, formalized in a May 2025 memorandum of agreement disclosed this week by the watchdog group American Oversight.
TSA now shares passenger information with ICE for civil immigration enforcement — not only criminal cases — allowing agents to arrest travelers at check-in counters and gates without warrants or home visits, according to immigration attorney Rosanna Berardi, who spoke with ABC News. “It’s simply a name match at a checkpoint,” Berardi said.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the administration “reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country.” A DHS spokesperson added: “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
Those detained include people with no criminal records who hold valid work authorization or parole documents, according to attorneys interviewed by ABC News and CNN. Some have pending immigration applications — a status that does not confer permanent legal standing but had previously allowed domestic travel without enforcement action.
Specific arrests documented by news outlets include a Southwest Airlines flight attendant detained at Nashville International Airport on July 14, a woman arrested on a jet bridge at Denver International Airport on July 20, and a Ukrainian national detained at San Francisco International Airport on July 22. An attempted arrest at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on July 13 ended when ICE agents walked away after bystanders confronted them; the individual was arrested the next day at Los Angeles International Airport.
Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told CNN that “enforcement at airports is nothing we’ve ever seen, neither is cooperation between TSA and ICE.” John Sandweg, former acting ICE director under the Obama administration, said airports provide a “secure environment” where agents “know exactly when and where [travelers are] going to be.”
ICE sources told CBS News that airport arrests are a “relatively straightforward way to boost arrest levels” at a time when the White House has been pressuring ICE to record 2,000 daily arrests.
The Breakdown
- ICE and TSA signed an agreement in May 2025 allowing TSA to share passenger data with ICE for civil immigration enforcement, not only criminal cases.
- At least 27 arrests have occurred in airports across nine states using this tactic, according to documents obtained by ABC News. The timeframe is not stated.
- Those detained include people with pending immigration applications or work permits but without permanent legal status — a “legal gray area,” according to attorney Rosanna Berardi, that ICE is “exploiting.”
- The 16-page agreement, disclosed by American Oversight through a Freedom of Information Act request, cites “national security, transportation security, law enforcement, and immigration and border management” as its basis.
What This Means for You
This is a policy set by the Trump administration — an elected President directing federal agencies under his authority. A voter’s judgment of that administration necessarily includes how its appointees and agencies use the power delegated to them. The policy reverses prior practice that allowed people with pending immigration cases or work permits to travel domestically without enforcement action at airports.
Whether this represents appropriate immigration enforcement or overreach — targeting people with valid work authorization and no criminal records in a venue where they cannot avoid detection — is a question voters will weigh when evaluating the administration’s record.
What to Watch
Is the policy targeting the right people? The material states that some of those arrested hold valid work permits, have pending immigration applications, and have no criminal records. DHS frames the operation as preventing “aliens in our country illegally” from traveling, but attorneys say it’s catching people “living in the U.S. lawfully, holding valid work permits, complying with immigration law, but still in pending status awaiting their green cards.” The administration’s claim and the attorneys’ claim are not the same group of people — one is a description of unauthorized presence, the other of people in a legal process.
Is this enforcement or quota-chasing? ICE sources told CBS News that airport arrests are a “straightforward way to boost arrest levels” to meet White House pressure for 2,000 daily arrests. That raises the question: is the policy driven by a determination that visa overstays at airports are a priority threat, or by the need to hit a number? An enforcement operation designed to meet an arrest quota is not the same thing as one designed to address the highest-priority cases.
What happens to people caught in the gap? A pending immigration application does not confer permanent status, but it previously allowed domestic travel. People in that status — authorized to work, passing background checks, waiting for their cases to be reviewed — are now being arrested mid-travel. The long-term effect of making domestic air travel a “legal status audit,” as Berardi described it, is worth watching: does it push people out of the immigration system entirely, or does it function as the administration intends?
