T.S.A. Is Providing Air Passenger Data to Immigration Agents for Deportation Effort
The New York Times • • business
Key Points:
- The Trump administration has implemented a program where the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shares names of all air travelers multiple times a week with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to identify and detain individuals subject to deportation orders.
- This data-sharing initiative allows ICE to match traveler lists against its deportation database and send agents to airports to arrest targeted individuals, marking a significant expansion of federal cooperation in immigration enforcement.
- The program, which began quietly in March, has already led to arrests such as that of Any Lucía López Belloza, a college student detained at Boston Logan Airport and deported to Honduras, with some regions reporting a 75% arrest rate when names are flagged.
- Historically, ICE avoided interfering with domestic travel, but
