ICE expands airport arrests to new visa targets, lawyers say
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expanding airport arrest operations to foreign citizens with expired visas, including spouses of Americans and people with pending immigration applications, lawyers say. Agents in plain clothes have detained travelers at check-in counters and gates across at least 15 airports in recent weeks.
Key Takeaways
- ICE is targeting travelers with expired visas, not only people with final removal orders.
- Plainclothes agents have acted at check-in counters and gates in at least 15 airports in recent weeks.
- At least 11 Bay Area residents were detained in about three weeks, immigration attorneys say.
- ABC News, cited by the San Francisco Chronicle, reported at least 27 airport arrests across nine states.
- Lawyers and California officials are warning people with pending status to avoid flying when possible.
What is changing about airport arrests?
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration has begun arresting foreign citizens with expired U.S. visas as they travel through airports—including spouses of Americans. The shift opens a much larger pool of people for possible deportation than earlier airport operations that mainly focused on travelers with judge-issued removal orders or administrative warrants.
The recent cases appear to expand an arrangement between the Transportation Security Administration and ICE. The Times previously reported that ICE used airline data shared with TSA to arrest people with deportation orders at airports. Now, lawyers say targets include people who lack permanent status but often have pending asylum claims, green card filings, or other applications.
Some of the arrests have unfolded quietly. Others have been filmed by angry fellow passengers.
Who is being detained, and where?
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that at least 11 Bay Area residents were ensnared in the crackdown over the past three weeks. Among them: a newlywed returning home after celebrating her marriage to a U.S. citizen husband, a professional athlete previously granted a visa for extraordinary ability, a student about to begin a master’s degree, and three friends detained after a short trip to Southern California.
San Francisco immigration attorney Ghassan Shamieh said five of his clients were detained at airports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix within two weeks. Four had pending asylum applications; the fifth had pending visa applications. None had criminal records, he said. A judge later ordered the release of his athlete client, while another client was granted release on a $35,000 bond that Shamieh called nearly unheard of.
Separate cases include an Oakland woman detained while trying to board a flight in Denver and another Oakland woman detained during a Phoenix connection. A Ukrainian photographer and cafe worker, Iryna Gorb, was filmed being taken at San Francisco International Airport after returning from Portland. For more BlasterPost coverage of fast-moving enforcement and policy stories, visit the Future Tech & AI Wonders category hub.
Why are lawyers warning travelers now?
Attorneys describe the airport tactics as essentially unheard of for people with ongoing immigration cases. Shamieh called the targets “low-hanging fruit” because flight bookings require sensitive personal information that can be shared with ICE, and security-area arrests draw less public scrutiny than large street operations.
Attorney Kyra Lilien said her firm is advising clients to avoid air travel if they have an ongoing asylum case, a pending green card application, or another non-permanent status still in transition. California state Sen. Scott Wiener similarly urged people with uncertain immigration status to consult an attorney before deciding whether to fly. Rep. Kevin Mullin, whose district includes SFO, said airports should not become an ICE enforcement zone.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to provide the number of airport arrests over a recent two-week span. A spokesperson said the Trump administration reversed a “horrendous Biden-era policy” and is working to ensure people in the country illegally “can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.” Lilien countered that many of those detained are complying with the process, have no criminal histories, and are not a threat—yet still face arrest while waiting on federal decisions.