by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:20 AM ET, Fri July 31, 2026
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under President Donald Trump are working more closely together to make immigration arrests, according to new information obtained by news sources.
TSA is sharing information about air travelers who are not American citizens with ICE, including informing the controversial agency of those who might have overstayed their visas or violated civil immigration laws in some other way, sending them tips on “deportable” people, according to CBS News.
This represents a shift in travel for those without permanent status or who are here illegally. Before this, travelers who did not pose a safety risk or were wanted for a specific crime were able to travel domestically without risk of arrest.
That’s no longer the case.
The DHS, in its official statement to journalists, called the policy a “Biden-era” one, but that is not the case, as the policy was in place during other presidential administrations, including Trump’s first Administration.
“DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country,” DHS told reporters. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. 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 group American Oversight disclosed an official memorandum of agreement between ICE and TSA this week, which details how the two agencies have been sharing more information with one another since May, 2025—something the watchdog group claims directly opposes what acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said in her sworn congressional testimony earlier this year, that the TSA "does not send the information to ICE; we help ICE check against [TSA] information."
“This agreement pulls back the curtain on the formal partnership between TSA and ICE that the administration refused to explain to the public. Americans provide their personal information to board a plane safely, not to become part of an immigration enforcement system or a government surveillance network,” said American Oversight's Executive Director Chioma Chukwu. “And this isn’t just about TSA. It’s about an administration that keeps taking information Americans are required to provide for one purpose and repurposing it for another: to identify, track, and target people for immigration enforcement. That’s a dangerous precedent with consequences far beyond immigration. Once the government begins expanding how it uses Americans’ personal information, it raises profound concerns about privacy, civil liberties, and public trust.”
Before the Trump Administration, TSA would collaborate with ICE for criminal investigations or public safety issues involving travel, like drug smuggling and human trafficking.
Now, with the new agreement in place, ICE is making more deportation arrests. One source for CBS noted that people in airports are “easy targets” for immigration agents, who the Administration is urging to arrest 2,000 people daily.
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