Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have stepped up arrests at U.S. airports, detaining travelers with expired visas including spouses of U.S. citizens, tech workers and asylum seekers, with operations reported at more than 15 airports in recent weeks. Attorneys say agents have abruptly taken passengers at check-in counters and gates; one woman flying from the Washington, D.C. area to Texas for her father’s funeral is being held in Virginia, and another client was detained at Chicago’s airport. DHS declined to confirm an increase in airport arrests and said it will not disclose officer locations, while asserting the department has deported nearly 1 million undocumented immigrants as of July 12. The administration’s broader goal of roughly 2,000 deportation arrests a day and ready access to passenger data from TSA make terminals a predictable setting for ICE, former acting ICE director John Sandweg said, calling airports an ‘‘easy immigration arrest’’ location. Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, warned that treating pending applicants as unable to travel would be ‘‘very, very new’’ and flagged unusual cooperation between TSA and ICE. Homeland Security adjusted enforcement operations after two fatal shootings this month tied to ICE traffic stops in Houston and Maine, and lawyers and advocates say airport arrests are a growing tactic as the agency seeks faster, more efficient detentions.
