Federal authorities are quietly expanding the use of airport security data in immigration enforcement, with the Transportation Security Administration now routinely sharing passenger information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help identify individuals facing deportation.
According to reports, the program allows ICE to cross-reference airline passenger manifests against federal immigration records, enabling officers to identify travelers with outstanding removal orders and position agents at airports for potential arrests. Both agencies fall under the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees aviation security and immigration enforcement.
A DHS spokesperson characterized the practice as routine rather than novel, dismissing suggestions of a new policy shift. “This is nothing new,” the spokesperson told CNBC.
The spokesperson framed the data-sharing effort as part of a broader reversal of prior administration policies, adding: “Back in February, Secretary [Kristi] Noem reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country and do so without identification. Under President Trump, TSA and DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
While officials have not disclosed how many detentions have resulted from the arrangement, internal records reviewed by journalists link the program to specific enforcement actions. Among them is the case of Any Lucía López Belloza, a university student detained at Boston’s Logan International Airport on November 20 while traveling to Texas to visit family ahead of Thanksgiving. She was removed to Honduras shortly afterward.
Historically, airlines have shared passenger information with federal authorities for purposes tied to safety and counterterrorism, including watchlist vetting and identity verification. The current program expands that role, integrating immigration enforcement more directly into the air travel system.
The Department of Homeland Security has not indicated whether the data-sharing initiative will be formalized through new regulations or expanded further. For now, officials describe it as an extension of long-standing interagency cooperation—one now operating more aggressively under President Trump’s renewed emphasis on interior immigration enforcement.
As immigration remains a central political flashpoint, it seems like TSA has actually begun to do its actual job and protect America while enforcing its laws.
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