For all the jokes Americans have made over the years about the Transportation Security Administration—sometimes rebranded by critics as “Thousands Standing Around”—the agency has quietly taken on another role alongside airport security.
According to ABC News, the TSA is now working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and detain individuals who are subject to deportation proceedings when they pass through airport checkpoints. The report said 27 arrests have taken place across nine states during an unspecified period.
Illegal alien wanted for SEX CRIMES ARRESTED by @EROBoston.
Rocael Ordonez-Cruz, from Guatemala, was arrested by Arlington Police for numerous sex crimes last month — including rape and indecent exposure.
The heroic men and women of ICE will NEVER stop arresting sickos like… https://t.co/WCqXqrCIAb pic.twitter.com/mrVpCFuh8O
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 28, 2026
Those detained were described as individuals remaining in the United States after their visas had expired.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the effort in a statement defending the policy change.
Under @POTUS Trump and @SecMullinDHS, ICE is UNLEASHED to arrest and remove illegal aliens and make America safe again.
Just yesterday, @ICEgov arrested pedophiles, sexual predators, and other public safety threats:
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 28, 2026
“DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country,” a department spokesperson said.
“Under President Trump, 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.”
The strategy represents a noticeable shift in immigration enforcement. Rather than relying primarily on surveillance operations or arrests at homes and workplaces, authorities are using airport identification checks to locate individuals already known to immigration officials.
Rosanna Berardi, a Buffalo-based immigration attorney, described the change to CBS News.
“ICE is working with TSA and targeting people at check-in counters and gates, sidestepping the warrants and surveillance operations used in the past,” Berardi 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.”
Efrain Banuelos-Lopez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for lewd acts with a child under 14 years old with force in Norwalk, California. pic.twitter.com/4RBetzTBZg
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 28, 2026
Supporters of the administration argue that airports provide a practical location to locate individuals who are already subject to immigration enforcement without requiring more resource-intensive operations elsewhere.
The policy has also drawn criticism from immigration advocates and attorneys representing some of those detained. The New York Times highlighted several individual cases, including a Ugandan woman with sickle cell anemia who uses a wheelchair and an Ecuadorian au pair, arguing that the enforcement campaign has affected people whose circumstances extend beyond public perceptions of illegal immigration.
The Times also reported that information sharing between TSA and ICE began in May 2025, citing records obtained by the watchdog organization American Oversight through the Freedom of Information Act.
Sengkham Soumpholphakdy, a criminal illegal alien from Laos, convicted for first-degree rape and THREE counts of first-degree sodomy in Springfield, Oregon. pic.twitter.com/DROGBE85ba
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 28, 2026
Charles Kuck, an Atlanta immigration attorney representing an Indian engineer who was detained, said the practice marked a significant change from what he had previously encountered.
“In 38 years practicing immigration law, I had never seen this,” Kuck said.
“And I know it’s happening to lots of people.”
Supporters of the administration maintain that immigration laws should be enforced regardless of where individuals are located and argue that using airport checkpoints is simply another lawful tool available to immigration authorities.
