ICE Enforcement at Airports: What Immigrants Need to Know
(Image Credit: Neal Augenstein WTOP News)
There are a million reasons to avoid the airport these days. Long lines. Short staffs. Even shorter tempers. And now a new one: ICE agents.
Why ICE Agents Are Being Deployed to U.S. Airports
On Sunday, President Trump announced that he would be sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to major U.S. airports. Their alleged purpose is to support Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers, who are staffing airport security checkpoints during the busy Spring Break travel season despite not having received a full paycheck in more than a month due to the partial government shutdown.
ICE officers “will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country,” Trump claimed.
How TSA and ICE Are Coordinating at Airports
Placing ICE agents in close proximity to TSA officers is likely to facilitate what has already been happening for months: TSA’s sharing of information with ICE to assist its officers in apprehending and detaining travelers suspected of having removal orders.
Real-World Example of Airport Enforcement
Even before ICE agents were deployed to airports on Monday, a video circulated online of a woman at San Francisco International Airport who was handcuffed by plain-clothed officers in front of her 9-year-old daughter as she was heading to catch a flight to Miami on Sunday.
Though the woman had no criminal history, she had missed a 2019 hearing where a judge ordered her removal. TSA agents saw her name on the flight manifest and tipped off ICE of her travel plans. She is not the first immigrant to be arrested at an airport and will certainly not be the last, particularly with ICE agents being deployed to at least 14 airports around the country.
What Immigrants Should Do Before Traveling
Our advice: if you are undocumented, please stay away from airports. If you have a removal order, absolutely avoid airports. If you don’t know or aren’t sure whether you have a deport order, please contact us at Benach Pitney Reilly.