ICE Arrests Over 800 People Following TSA Tips During Trump's Second Presidency
Internal agency data reviewed by Reuters has revealed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 800 individuals based on tips provided by federal airport security officials from the beginning of Donald Trump's second presidency through February 2026. This figure significantly exceeds what was previously known to the public, highlighting an intensified immigration enforcement effort.
TSA Shared Over 31,000 Traveler Records with ICE
The leads that led to these arrests originated from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which supplied ICE with records on more than 31,000 travelers for potential immigration enforcement. While Reuters could not determine precisely how many of these arrests occurred inside airports, the TSA tips were primarily useful in identifying when individuals would be traveling, enabling targeted enforcement actions.
Both ICE and the TSA operate under the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Historically, these agencies have shared information related to national security threats. However, during Trump's second term, their collaboration shifted focus toward routine immigration arrests as part of his broader mass deportation initiative.
Secure Flight Program Repurposed for Immigration Enforcement
The 31,000 traveler records were collected through TSA's Secure Flight Program, established in 2007 to review passenger information for individuals on US government watchlists as a counter-terrorism measure. According to the regulation outlining its purpose, this program was not intended to track down immigration offenders. The DHS did not respond to inquiries about the TSA providing passenger data to ICE, but the TSA stated that under Trump, it is "pursuing solutions that improve resiliency, security and efficiency across our entire system."
Data regarding arrests and traveler records shared between TSA and ICE prior to Trump's second term were unavailable, making it difficult to compare enforcement levels across different administrations.
Political Standoff Over Funding and Airport Deployments
US airports and immigration enforcement have become central to a partisan funding dispute since mid-February. Democrats refused to support additional funding for Trump's immigration crackdown without reforms to scale back aggressive tactics, leading to a standoff that blocked a bill to fund the DHS. This caused TSA security officers to miss at least two full paychecks, and after some unpaid officers began calling in sick, Trump deployed ICE officers to more than a dozen airports in March to assist with security efforts.
Democrats have criticized this deployment, urging the Trump administration to remove ICE officers from airports. A group of over 40 Democrats in the US House of Representatives wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that ICE officers "will cause confusion and fear" if allowed to remain in airports.
Notable Arrests and Legal Cases Spark Backlash
Several high-profile cases of ICE officers arresting travelers at US airports have generated significant backlash. For instance, ICE detained a college student traveling from Boston to Texas for Thanksgiving in November and arrested a sobbing mother at San Francisco International Airport just before Trump's airport deployment began. The DHS defended these arrests, stating both individuals were subject to final orders of removal.
Reuters interviewed three immigration attorneys familiar with cases of people without legal immigration status being arrested in airports. One attorney, Christina Canty, described an Irish couple who had lived in the US for over two decades and were detained in front of their children in summer 2025 while trying to fly from Florida to New York after a vacation. The parents, who had pending permanent residency applications, were deported, leaving their two young children, aged seven and 10, with adult siblings in the US.
In another case, a Chinese woman with a final order of removal who was seeking permanent residence was detained by ICE at Atlanta airport while en route to Philadelphia. These incidents underscore the human impact of the intensified enforcement measures and continue to fuel political and public debate over immigration policies in the United States.
