The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified its immigration crackdown by expanding enforcement operations at airports, with foreign nationals whose visas have expired now being arrested while travelling through major airports across the United States.
According to a report by The New York Times, immigration officers in plain clothes have detained travellers at check-in counters, boarding gates and arrival areas in at least 15 U.S. airports in recent weeks, marking a significant expansion of the administration’s deportation efforts.
Those reportedly affected include spouses of U.S. citizens, professionals waiting for work visa extensions and former exchange programme participants. While some arrests were carried out discreetly, others were recorded by fellow passengers and later circulated on social media.
The report stated that the operation builds on an existing information-sharing arrangement between the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Under the programme, airlines provide passenger information to security officials.
Previously, the initiative mainly targeted individuals with existing deportation orders. However, it has now been expanded to include people whose visas have expired.
The policy significantly increases the number of people who could face detention, as hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals overstay their visas each year. Many of them are legally awaiting decisions on visa renewals or permanent residency applications and hold valid work authorisations.
Unlike previous administrations, which generally did not prioritise deporting visa overstays without criminal records, the Trump administration now considers all visa overstays as immigration violations subject to enforcement.
Responding to the report, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the administration was determined to prevent undocumented immigrants from travelling within the country.
“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 spokesperson said.
Although the department did not officially confirm the reported expansion of airport enforcement, it also did not disclose how many people have been detained under the initiative.
According to the report, the White House has directed ICE to increase immigration enforcement nationwide, with a reported target of about 2,000 immigration arrests per day.
The report highlighted several recent cases, including 27-year-old Ecuadorian national Chantal Morales Rojas, who was arrested by plainclothes officers while boarding a domestic flight in Denver after visiting the family she previously worked for as an au pair.
Another case involved a Ugandan woman living with sickle cell anaemia, who was travelling in a wheelchair despite having an active asylum application. An Australian national who overstayed his visa was also reportedly arrested after initially being released during an encounter at Las Vegas airport before being detained the following day in Los Angeles.
The latest measures highlight the Trump administration’s continued push to strengthen immigration enforcement, with U.S. airports increasingly becoming key locations for identifying and detaining individuals accused of violating immigration laws.
