TSA and ICE Collaborate on Immigration Enforcement

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is now teaming up with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to boost efforts around immigration enforcement. Both agencies operate under the Department of Homeland Security.

Historically, ICE has shied away from getting involved in domestic travel, but this partnership marks a change, as a recent report highlighted. According to this report, the TSA has been quietly sharing information with ICE since March.

Specifically, TSA sends a list of traveler names before flights to ICE. That allows ICE to cross-check these names against their database of individuals who may be subject to deportation. In some cases, this has led to arrests at airports.

Exactly how many individuals have been apprehended as a result of this collaboration isn’t clear. However, there was at least one case reported at Boston Logan Airport where an individual was detained and deported on November 20.

Scott Mekowski, who previously served as deputy director of ICE’s New York office, spoke to the media, stating, “The administration is turning routine travel into a means for removal, potentially identifying many people who believed they could bypass the law simply by boarding a plane.”

He added, “This isn’t about creating fear; it’s about reinstating order and letting citizens know that the laws are being enforced.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security responded by saying that this strategy isn’t something new. They noted that Secretary Kristi Noem had recently canceled a previous policy that allowed foreign nationals to travel domestically without proper identification.

DHS emphasized their ongoing effort to ensure that undocumented individuals cannot fly unless they’re departing the country voluntarily.