US immigration officials use airline passenger data to expand deportations

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It is unclear how many arrests were made as a result of this collaboration. But documents obtained by The New York Times show it led to the arrest of Any Lucía López Belloza, a student arrested at Boston’s Logan Airport on Nov. 20 and deported to Honduras two days later. A former ICE official said 75% of cases in his area where names were flagged by the program resulted in arrests.

Historically, ICE has avoided interfering with domestic travel. But the partnership between airport security and the immigration agency, which began quietly in March, is the latest way the White House is increasing cooperation and information sharing among federal agencies in service of the president’s goal of waging the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.

“The message to those in the country illegally is clear: The only reason you should get on a plane is to self-deport at home,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security.

Airline passengers have long been subject to some form of federal oversight. Airlines typically provide passenger information to TSA after booking a flight. This information is compared to national security databases, including the Terrorist Screening Dataset, which contains the names of individuals on a list of known or suspected terrorists.

But the TSA has not previously gotten involved in criminal or immigration issues domestically, said a former agency official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the matter. Among the concerns, the former official said, is that screening activities at airports can distract from airport security and contribute to longer wait times for passengers.

— If there are more agents making arrests at airports, it will overwhelm the system, delays and complications could inconvenience and frighten some travelers, and those who are unsure of their situation will stop flying — said Claire Trickler-McNulty, a senior ICE official under the Biden administration. “This will continue to reduce the space where people feel safe to carry out their activities. »

Pressure to step up enforcement is widespread within the Department of Homeland Security, which houses both ICE and the TSA. Earlier this year, Stephen Miller, a senior White House official, proposed a goal of 3,000 immigrant apprehensions per day and met with senior ICE officials to discuss how to increase deportations.

Some former ICE officials said the program would be a big help to an agency struggling to keep up with the number of deportations demanded by the Trump administration.

“The government has turned routine travel into a force multiplier for deportations, potentially identifying thousands of people who thought they could evade the law simply by boarding a plane,” said Scott Mechkowski, former deputy chief of ICE’s New York office. — It’s not about fear; it’s about restoring order and ensuring that all Americans know that their government enforces its laws without apology.

The airport has an added advantage for authorities in that it is a place where potential targets are searched for weapons. And like López, people reported to the program were able to be arrested and deported very quickly.

López, 19, had already been the subject of a deportation order. In 2018, according to internal records, his case was referred to ICE for possible arrest. Despite this, she said she was unaware of the order and had managed to continue living in the country without any problems. Most recently, she attended Babson College, where she studied business as a freshman.

Things changed on November 20, when López arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport en route to Texas. She passed through security with her Honduran passport without incident, she said, and arrived at the gate early enough to grab a coffee.

However, when it was time to board, his boarding pass did not work.

During the second scan, she noticed an X on the agent’s computer screen, who told her to go to customer service to find out what was happening, she said.

“Ah, you’re Any,” one of the federal agents waiting for her said, according to López. Internal records show she was initially detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

“He said, ‘Well, you’re coming with us. You’re going to do a bunch of paperwork,'” she recalls. “I said, ‘Well, I have to get on the plane because I have to leave now.’ And he said, “Well, I don’t think you’ll even be able to get on that flight.” »

Activists have criticized the airport’s deportation program as a way to intimidate immigrants.

“This is yet another attempt to terrorize and punish communities and will cause people to leave their homes for fear of being unjustly detained and disappearing from the country before they have a chance to challenge their detention,” said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First, an immigrant advocacy organization.

Documents obtained by The New York Times show that López’s arrest implicated an ICE office in California that plays a key role in the airport program. The office, called the Pacific Enforcement Response Center, sends information to immigration agents across the country and directs local jails to detain immigrants. Documents show the bureau passed its flight information to ICE officials in Boston.

The document details how this is part of a collaboration “with the Transportation Security Administration to send actionable leads into the field regarding aliens with a final expulsion order who appear to have an imminent flight planned.”

A former senior ICE official with knowledge of the airport program said the California office often sent out several tips a day about potential detainees at airports in the region where the official worked. The former official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal law enforcement matters, said ICE agents received the passenger’s flight number and departure time, as well as a photo of the target, sometimes just hours before the plane took off.

The program is particularly effective because it allows ICE to quickly deport those arrested, the former official said.

López’s arrest is not the only one in the program that has attracted media attention.

In late October, Marta Brizeyda Renderos Leiva, a Salvadoran woman, was arrested at the Salt Lake City airport. Leiva was also the subject of a final expulsion order. Video of the arrest shows her screaming as officers took her out of the airport.

Internal records obtained by The Times show that Ms. Leiva’s flight information was also passed to local agents by the California office.

The Trump administration has attempted to use other databases to track immigrants it wants to detain or deport, including the IRS, which agreed earlier this year to turn over migrants’ addresses to ICE. A federal court blocked the initiative in November.

López’s case gained publicity in part because she had no criminal record. She planned to go home and spend Thanksgiving with her family, including going to church and having dinner together. It was a surprise trip.

— I thought: OK, this is what I’m going to do with them — she remembers the plans she had to spend time with her loved ones. — I’m going to do it today. Today I’m going to be with friends and family and things like that. It was the only thing on my mind.