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The administration formalizes data-sharing partnership between TSA and ICE to expand immigration enforcement at airports

The administration announced a formal data-sharing partnership between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand immigration enforcement into domestic air travel. A newly released Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) reveals that the TSA will share specific passenger data with ICE, allowing the agency to identify and arrest illegal immigrants who overstay their visas or lack permanent legal status, even without criminal records. This shift marks a significant policy change, as domestic flights were previously less likely to target non-citizens with pending applications. The administration noted that it reversed a "horrendous Biden-era policy" that allowed illegal immigrants to fly domestically without being detained. Immigration attorneys warn that airports have become a new enforcement zone, making it risky for travelers with uncertain status to fly. The agreement was produced after a lawsuit by the watchdog group American Oversight, which highlighted that the administration has been repurposing personal information collected for aviation security to bolster its broader immigration enforcement strategy.

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