ICE Ramps Up New Tactic To Nab Foreigners Overstaying Visas

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have descended on airports across the country, expanding enforcement operations to target illegal immigrants who overstayed their visas, according to The New York Times.

Federal immigration officers have been seen arresting individuals at the check-in counters and boarding gates and are said to be operating at 15 airports, the outlet reported, citing documents and interviews with immigration attorneys.

“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,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told The New York Times.

The latest operation builds on a TSA-ICE partnership launched in May 2025 to arrest individuals with outstanding deportation orders at airports, The Times reported.

It also comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on ICE to increase arrest numbers, agency sources have recently told The Daily Wire.

Several recent airport arrests have gone viral on social media.

ICE arrested Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas on July 20 while she attempted to board a Southwest Airlines flight from Denver to Oakland, according to 9News. The incident was captured on video, appearing to show plainclothes officers intercepting her on the jetway before escorting her away.

All the while, the woman behind the camera was repeatedly calling for “help” and crying out “ICE is here” and “f*ck ICE,” according to the video.

A GoFundMe set up for Morales Rojas said she has a valid work permit and a pending asylum application, 9News reported.

ICE said she entered the United States on October 20, 2024, and that her visa expired on January 4, 2025, according to the outlet. The agency added that having a pending case or work authorization doesn’t keep ICE from making an arrest.

“A ‘work permit’ and/or a pending asylum case does NOT confer any type of legal status in the United States or prevent ICE from arresting or deporting an illegal alien from the country,” ICE said.

An immigration judge has since granted bond to Morales Rojas, according to 9News.

As a result of the Trump administration’s latest arrest effort, immigration lawyers say they are instructing their clients awaiting decisions on pending immigration applications to avoid travel.

“Before, I was saying, ‘As long as you have an ID, you can travel domestically.’ Now I am turning around and saying, ‘If you are in the process of changing status, avoid any travel,'” Shannon Shepherd, an immigration lawyer who is vice chair for the Chicago chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told The Times.