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ICE presence at airports unlawfully restricts mobility of noncitizens and people of color, advocates say
Some immigrants and U.S. citizens of color have canceled their travel plans as federal immigration agents review IDs alongside TSA agents at some airports
Maurizio Guerrero
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Yosimar Reyes had the proper documentation to board his flight to Tucson, Arizona. The Mexico-born writer and Santa Clara County poet laureate, had recently also flown out of San Diego. But this time, traveling felt different.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were deployed to 14 airports across the country on March 23, marking the first time that the armed agents have been stationed at these civilian facilities. Reyes did not want to run any risk.
“I cancelled my trip to Tucson,” Reyes posted on Instagram on March 24.
“I was traveling with my Mexican passport and my work authorization card to confirm my legal presence [in the U.S.], but that was before the deployment,” Reyes told Prism. “Now, that might not be enough.”
The Trump administration claimed that ICE agents were called to alleviate staffing shortages and reduce security wait times at airports. Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff resigned, and thousands called in sick when they were not being paid due to the partial government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.
President Donald Trump also stated, however, that airports were “fertile territory” for ICE to arrest undocumented immigrants; he claimed that agents would focus on those from Somalia—who are mostly Black and Muslim—who he claimed had “totally destroyed” Minnesota.
As a consequence, ICE presence in U.S. airports has caused fear and unlawfully limited the mobility within the U.S. of noncitizens and people of color.
Reyes is now considering canceling two upcoming flights to Chicago and New York, as ICE agents are checking travelers’ IDs and performing screening duties alongside TSA personnel.
“This is very scary because they have the right to ask you for more information,” he said. “If you don’t provide it, it could be really bad.”
Trump’s ICE has detained U.S. citizens, green card holders, and lawful immigrants based mostly on their appearance, going far beyond what the law allows the agency to do. These racist actions have been met with little to no accountability.
On March 23, a video of the arrest of a woman traveling with her 9-year-old daughter at San Francisco International Airport increased advocates’ concerns. TSA had tipped off ICE agents about the mother, Angelina López Jiménez, who had apparently received a final order to be deported.
Before the current Trump administration, TSA agents did not share data related to the immigration cases of domestic flight travelers; that changed in March 2025, according to The New York Times.
“The reports of TSA and ICE cooperating to violently arrest a mother in the San Francisco airport only compound the points why all of this is problematic and harmful,” Joanna Kuebler, chief of programs at immigration reform nonprofit America’s Voice, told Prism in an email. “It’s a reminder of the Trump Administration’s goal to use every part of the federal government to further their mass deportation crusade.”
To travel or not
“We definitely had about a day of panic when we found out that we would be flying,” said Phi Kurtze, a middle school teacher. Kurtze and their partner were returning from Orange County, California, to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, where ICE agents were present.
Kurtze’s partner is not a U.S. citizen. “They had been reluctant to fly until they established their citizenship,” Kurtze explained. “So, this was a lot.”
The flight went smoothly, and Kurtze and their partner did not see ICE agents upon arrival; nonetheless, they called friends to pick them up at the airport: “We wanted to mobilize the community.”
Concerns about flying have multiplied. The Reddit thread, “ICE has now been deployed to multiple airports and I feel unsafe traveling now, even as a U.S. citizen” received more than 230 responses in two days, with many suggesting that it might be safer to take a train across states. Other Reddit threads expressed similar worries.
A Muslim woman, who did not want her name published due to safety concerns, shared with Prism that she was anxious about flying from JFK Airport in New York, where she saw ICE agents behind TSA staff checking travelers’ IDs.
“The administration aims to send the message that no one is safe,” said Nancy Flores, deputy director at the National Partnership for New Americans, a coalition of over 70 immigrant and refugee rights organizations across the U.S.
She added, “The example out of San Francisco airport highlights what advocates across the country were worried about.”
Democrats have refused to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security—the parent agency of ICE and TSA—unless officials implement strict oversight and accountability measures, especially after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota. Republicans have rejected any changes to ICE’s operations.
Instead, on March 27, Trump signed an emergency executive order to pay TSA workers who went unpaid for at least 44 days.
ICE agents, however, will still be stationed at the airports. On March 29, the White House “border czar,” Tom Homan, said that ICE agents would remain “until the airports feel like they’re 100%” and “normal operations” resume.
As of March 30, travelers shared with Prism that ICE continues to have a heavy presence at both New York airports.
“Sending ICE agents into our airports and our communities [makes] all of us less safe and interrupts the vital role of air travel in our economy,” said Manny Pastreich, president of 32BJ SEIU, TSA’s workers union, in an email to Prism.
The deployments are unlawfully limiting people’s mobility, especially of noncitizens, said Reyes, the poet.
People supporting the current administration believe they are targeting undocumented people, Reyes said.
“They are extracting us, deporting us, and jailing us,” Reyes said. “But they are also hurting themselves because they are losing their civil liberties.”
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Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor
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