WASHINGTON, April 7 — US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested greater than 800 individuals following suggestions shared by federal airport safety officers from the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency by way of February 2026, inner ICE knowledge reviewed by Reuters present, a determine far above what was beforehand publicly identified.
The leads got here from the Transportation Safety Administration, which provided ICE with data on greater than 31,000 vacationers for attainable immigration enforcement, the info confirmed.
Reuters couldn’t decide what number of arrests passed off inside airports, though the TSA suggestions would primarily be helpful in figuring out when an individual would be touring.
ICE and TSA are a part of the US Division of Homeland Safety.
The companies have traditionally shared info associated to nationwide safety threats, however they started specializing in routine immigration arrests final yr as a part of Trump’s mass deportation effort.
TSA program was designed to counter terrorism
The 31,000 traveler data had been gathered by TSA’s Safe Flight Program, which was created in 2007 to permit the company to evaluate passenger info for individuals who could also be on US authorities watchlists.
This system was supposed as a counter-terrorism measure, to not monitor down immigration offenders, in response to the regulation outlining its goal.
DHS didn’t reply to questions on TSA offering passenger info to ICE, however mentioned that below Trump, TSA “is pursuing options that enhance resiliency, safety, and effectivity throughout our whole system.”
Figures for arrests and traveler data that TSA shared with ICE earlier than Trump’s present time period had been unavailable.
US airports and immigration enforcement have been on the heart of a partisan funding struggle since mid-February, when Democrats refused to help further cash for the Republican president’s immigration crackdown with out reforms to cut back aggressive ways.
The standoff blocked the passage of a invoice to fund DHS, which brought about TSA safety officers to overlook at the least two full paychecks.
After some unpaid TSA officers started calling in sick, Trump deployed ICE officers to greater than a dozen airports in March to assist safety efforts.
Democrats have criticized the deployment and known as on the Trump administration to take away them.
A gaggle of greater than 40 Democrats within the US Home of Representatives wrote in a letter to just lately put in Homeland Safety Secretary Markwayne Mullin final week that ICE officers “will trigger confusion and worry” if allowed to stay in airports.
Studies of surprising airport arrests
A number of circumstances of ICE officers arresting vacationers in US airports have sparked backlash.
ICE officers detained a school scholar touring from Boston to Texas to rejoice Thanksgiving in November and arrested a sobbing mom at San Francisco Worldwide Airport the day earlier than Trump’s airport deployment started.
DHS defended each arrests and mentioned they had been topic to closing orders of elimination.
Reuters spoke with three immigration attorneys who mentioned they had been aware of circumstances of individuals with out authorized immigration standing being arrested in airports.
The circumstances included an Irish couple who had lived within the US for greater than twenty years and had been detained final summer time by immigration authorities in entrance of their kids when making an attempt to fly from Florida to New York after a trip, Christina Canty, one of many legal professionals, mentioned.
The dad and mom – who had pending functions for everlasting residency — had been deported and left their two younger kids, ages 7 and 10, with grownup siblings within the US, Canty mentioned.
In one other case, a Chinese language lady with a closing order of elimination who was looking for everlasting residence was detained by ICE final yr on the Atlanta airport en path to Philadelphia, one of many attorneys mentioned.
