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US Visa Holders Face New Travel Risk: Immigration Lawyers Warn Domestic Flights Can Trigger ICE Arrests

Perplexity ChatGPT Claude Gemini
US Visa Holders Face New Travel Risk: Immigration Lawyers Warn Domestic Flights Can Trigger ICE Arrests

Immigration attorneys across the United States are issuing an unusual warning to their clients this summer: think twice before booking a domestic flight. This is because there have been a wave of arrests at airports in California, Colorado, Tennessee, Illinois, and at least six other states. This flurry of incidents has convinced several lawyers that routine air travel can now seem like a flashpoint for immigration enforcement. As always, our EB-1A consultants have discussed here in detail what could be the risks involved and how to best prepare if you book a domestic flight. Let's dive right into the matter.

Why this recent flurry of immigration arrests?

At the center of this trend is a previously undisclosed information-sharing arrangement between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A 16-page memorandum of agreement between the two agencies was made public after the nonpartisan watchdog group American Oversight obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The memo cites the federal Secure Flight Final Rule as its legal basis, and states that its purpose is to permit the exchange of agreed-upon data “to enhance national security, transportation security, law enforcement, and immigration and border management.”

According to ABC News, which reviewed an internal immigration memo, ICE has recorded at least 27 arrests carried out through this airport-based tactic across nine states, from California to Virginia. The document reportedly does not specify the exact time period over which those arrests took place. Rosanna Berardi, a Buffalo-based immigration attorney, told ABC News that while ICE has long had the legal authority to detain someone with a final removal order or expired status, what has changed is the setting and the method. “ICE is working with TSA and targeting people at check-in counters and gates, sidestepping the warrants and surveillance operations used in the past,” she said. “There is no investigation or no home visit involved. It's simply a name match at a checkpoint, and that's what makes this approach so efficient for ICE and so unsettling for travelers.”

Berardi added that the practice has effectively turned air travel into a compliance check. “Routine air travel has turned into a legal status audit for millions of foreign national visa holders and green card applicants,” she said. “Airports are becoming a new enforcement zone for people who have been living in the U.S. lawfully, holding valid work permits, complying with immigration law, but still in pending status awaiting their green cards. These individuals are technically in a legal gray area, since a pending application does not carry the same protection as an approved one.”

Former acting ICE director John Sandweg, who served under the Obama administration, told CNN that airports offer agents a uniquely convenient environment. “When you're under pressure to ramp up arrests, it's all about what is the fastest and easiest way to get people into custody,” he said, noting that DHS already receives passenger data through TSA and that terminals are secure spaces where “no one is armed.” “It makes for an easy immigration arrest for ICE,” Sandweg said.

Real cases and real consequences

The arrests have not been limited to people with criminal records. An immigration attorney told ABC News that some of those detained had no criminal history and were carrying valid work permits or parole documents at the time they were taken into custody.

In the Bay Area, local rapid-response networks that track federal enforcement activity say more than a dozen people have been detained at regional airports since June 27, according to reporting by KQED. One case involved a man from Argentina who had entered the U.S. on a visa with his wife in 2020. The couple had overstayed during the COVID-19 pandemic but were preparing to leave the country voluntarily in October with their U.S.-born child. He was detained at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport while attempting to board a domestic flight to Texas. Jazmin Preciado, an attorney with Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland, said the man had flown without incident a few months earlier and assumed one more flight before his planned departure would be safe. “The individual had taken a domestic flight maybe about three months ago, and it was without incident, so he figured, ‘I can take one more flight right before we take off permanently,’” Preciado said.

Preciado is now advising clients to weigh whether travel is truly necessary. “We are recommending that during this period of time, during this administration … if you don't have an urgent matter to travel for, even domestically, that you think about it to determine whether the risks are worth it,” she said.

Other high-profile cases have also surfaced in recent weeks. A Southwest Airlines flight attendant, Lorenzo Thompson, a Jamaican citizen, was arrested while on duty at Nashville International Airport on July 14. DHS confirmed to CNN that Thompson had entered the U.S. on April 17, 2021, on a six-month visa. “Against our nation's laws, he overstayed his visa and failed to depart,” the agency said, adding that “he will remain in ICE custody pending his immigration proceedings.” Southwest's flight attendants' union, Transport Workers Union Local 556, said it was working with Thompson's attorney to understand the situation.

In Denver, ICE agents in plainclothes detained Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas, a citizen of Ecuador, on the jetway of a flight and led her out onto the tarmac, according to reporting by TheTravel. DHS said Rojas had entered the U.S. in 2024 and overstayed her visa. However, her attorneys argued that she had entered the country lawfully with legal status.

DHS defends the expanded enforcement

The Department of Homeland Security has not confirmed the specific scope of the reported expansion but has defended the underlying policy shift. A DHS spokesperson told The New York Times that the administration is working to ensure people living in the U.S. illegally “can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.” In a separate statement, DHS said it had “reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country” and that, under President Trump, it “will no longer tolerate” domestic air travel by people without lawful status.

According to The New York Times, the program had previously focused primarily on individuals with final deportation orders but now appears to reach travelers whose visas have expired even while they hold pending immigration applications or valid work authorization.

What the immigration attorneys are saying

The shift has prompted immigration lawyers to revise guidance they have given clients for years. Shannon Shepherd, vice chair of the Chicago chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), told The New York Times that while non-citizens with valid identification were previously considered generally safe flying domestically, people whose immigration status is in transition are now being advised to avoid air travel until their cases are resolved.

Immigration lawyer Ghassan Shamieh told the Times that enforcement authorities are “casting a much wider net,” and that many of those detained had legitimate pending applications rather than criminal records.

Rekha Sharma-Crawford, AILA's second vice president, has raised concerns about how airport personnel handle these encounters. “When we put them in an airport where they're clearly not trained to handle whatever's happening with travelers — then under those circumstances — I think that everyone becomes a risk,” she said, according to Borderless Magazine. Evelyn Vargas of Organized Communities Against Deportation cautioned that non-citizens of color face heightened risk of interrogation or detention, adding: “Legal residents should expect some risk. Risk may involve additional screening, missing a flight or possibly illegal detainment.”

What happens next

Our eb-1a attorney friends say the pattern shows no sign of slowing as the Trump administration pushes for higher daily arrest quotas nationwide. For now, the core advice from lawyers is consistent: travelers who are not U.S. citizens (including green card applicants, visa holders, and people with any unresolved immigration matter) should assess whether a domestic flight is truly necessary. They are also suggested to keep copies of every immigration document on hand, and consult an attorney before booking travel if their status is anything other than fully settled.

At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts are constantly staying updated on the latest policy changes and insights. Stay tuned to our blog section to read our opinions, analysis and insights.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why are ICE arrests happening at airports now?

A data-sharing agreement between TSA and ICE, built on the Secure Flight Final Rule, allows immigration authorities to cross-check passenger information against records of expired visas, pending applications, and removal orders, turning routine check-in and boarding into potential enforcement points.

2. Who is most at risk of being detained at an airport?

Reports indicate that people with expired visas, pending green card applications, unresolved asylum claims, or other unsettled immigration matters are being targeted; not only those with criminal records or final deportation orders.

3. Can someone with a valid work permit still be detained?

Yes. Attorneys say some individuals detained were carrying valid work permits or parole documents, since a pending application does not offer the same legal protection as an approved one.

4. How many arrests have been recorded through this tactic?

According to a memo reviewed by ABC News, at least 27 arrests have occurred through this method across nine states, though the document did not specify a timeframe, and advocates believe the actual figure is likely higher.

5. Is it illegal for TSA to share passenger data with ICE?

DHS has defended the arrangement as consistent with the Secure Flight Final Rule, which governs how airlines transmit passenger data for security screening. Civil liberties groups argue the program was not publicly disclosed and raises surveillance and oversight concerns.

6. What are immigration lawyers now telling their clients?

Many attorneys, including members of AILA, are advising non-citizens with pending or uncertain immigration status to avoid non-essential domestic flights until their cases are resolved, and to travel only when necessary.

7. What should a visa holder do before booking a domestic flight?

Lawyers recommend consulting an immigration attorney beforehand, carrying copies of all relevant immigration documents, and carefully weighing whether the trip is essential given the current enforcement climate.

8. Has the Department of Homeland Security responded to these reports?

DHS has not confirmed the full scope of the reported expansion but has said it is working to ensure people without lawful status cannot fly domestically unless departing the country voluntarily, framing the policy as a reversal of prior practice.

Sources & Further Readings

 

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